Power of the Elements
by Ranitagoyle
Summary: Gargoyles Sequel to The Energy. Crossover with Gargoyles and XMen: the Movie. Enemies of the Manhattan Clan and XMen have joined together to find someone special. Enter Tempest. She runs into a girl who's being chased. Who wants her and why?
1. A Plot of Ambition

**Power of the Elements**

By Ranitagoyle

Feedback: www . gargsmoon . com or livejournal . com / users / ranitagoyle /

Series/Sequel: This is the sequel to _**The Energy**_ and the first in the Elements Trilogy.

Timeline: It's been six months since _**The Energy**_ and six years since the first X-Men movie.

_Italics _denotes thoughts

"…" denotes regular speak

'…' denotes thought speaking

* * *

Usual disclaimer: Gargoyles aren't mine. The X-Men aren't mine, either. Though if they were for sell, I would buy Storm, Wolverine, and Gambit in a heart beat. ;-) So don't sue. The original characters and attacks belong to me. So you would like to borrow, please ask! This is the sequel to my first story "The Energy" from the gargoyles point of view. 

A/N: Sorry that it has been so long since I've written anything. I am a very slow writer with a big imagination that continues to create plot bunnies! I hope you enjoy my second fanfic!

* * *

**Prologue: A Plot of Ambition**

**November 15, 2004**

Manhattan. The city has every problem in the world. From crime to unemployment, there seemed to be nothing this city couldn't handle. There was prejudice also. This prejudice is so deep, so sharp that it would rock the city and the world to its core. It is the type of prejudice that would destroy the lives of many innocents.

Graydon Creed was waiting. Like his father, patience was not one of his strong suits. _Where am I and what am I doing here?_ He questioned himself. The last thing he remembered was taking a cab to the airport and the next thing he knew he was here. _Where is here, anyway?_ Creed took this chance to really look at his surroundings. The walls of the chamber were blue, nothing special and most importantly there wasn't a window in sight. There was nothing special about the room other than the table in front of him and the chair he was tied to. The room looked fit to be an interrogation room. _I wonder who had the balls to take me in broad daylight._ he thought.

His questions were soon answered. The chamber door opened and three figures walked in. Their bodily characteristics were indistinguishable due to the bulky blue bodysuits and masks they wore. Two of the three figures carried something in their hands, something that looked like a hammer…

"Ah, it's good to see that you're awake, Mr. Creed. We have much to discuss-" the third figure stated.

"Do you have any idea who you've kidnapped? As soon as I'm free, I'll have your head on a platter!" Creed bellowed, spittle flying, as he struggled against the shackles holding him to the chair.

"Indeed," he said, unimpressed, "I know exactly who you are, Mister Creed, or rather I know what you are." The figure watched as Graydon Creed, hater of mutants, paled. "You are the son of not one, but two rogue mutants, tsk, tsk. It's a miracle of science that you didn't turn out to be a mutie like them," the man, for the voice under the mask was certainly male, paused in his speech. "But let us be serious for a moment, Mr. Creed. We both know that no one is expecting you for at least six hours. Even if your absence was noticed, who would search for you?" the masked man questioned. The only answer he received was Creed's silence. "Now, I have a proposition for you to consider," he stopped there.

It was clear to Creed that the man was giving him time to weigh his options. The man was right. No one would look for him; he'd made too many enemies. Creed realized he had only two options left: Listen to this proposition or spend the rest of his life in a cell.

"If I listen to this proposal and don't agree to it, will you release me?" Creed inquired.

"Oh, I'm sure that you'll accept my offer, but I'll lay your fears to rest. You have my word as a gentleman that you will be released upon hearing my offer whether you agree or not." Creed could practically hear the smile in the man's words. "Here is a little hint for you to consider: How would you like to destroy every mutant on this planet?" The man watched as Creed's eyes lit up at the prospect.

"I'm listening," Creed sneered, obviously curious.

"There is one person that has the power to exterminate every mutant on this planet. That person is a mutant," the man explained.

"No mutie can do that," Creed countered.

"Is it really so hard to believe? Your father is a feral madman and your mother is a shape-shifting demoness. The fact that there is a mutant with such abilities shouldn't be surprising," the stranger argued.

Once said, the concept didn't sound so unbelievable to Creed. The fact that this man knew so much about his family history bothered him, but the stranger was right about the mutants' powers. _The muties are like cockroaches, multiplying all over the place, _he thought.

"How do you plan to control the freak once you catch it?" he asked the man.

"Controlling the mutant will be a simple matter; it's catching it that poses a problem. That is what I need your men for. With the help of my men, they will pressure the mutant right into our hands," said the man. "The last sighting of the mutant was on Manhattan Island in New York."

"I have one last question. What do you get out of this?" Creed asked. The man seemed to gather himself as if what he had to say to Creed was more important than his plan to kill the mutants.

"While you hunt the freaks on the ground, I hunt the freaks of the sky. Gargoyles, Mr. Creed, are just as much a plague on the human race as mutants. Now, do we have a deal, Mr. Creed?" The man motioned to one of the guards to undo the shackles. As Creed stood, the stranger extended his hand toward him. Creed took a moment to look at the hand and then back up at the masked face.

"Before I make a deal with the devil, I'd like to see his face," he said. There was a slight silence, and then the masked stranger burst out laughing.

"Good show, Mr. Creed," said the stranger as he pulled the mask off his head. He was obviously a young man with short blond hair mussed from the mask and a thin mustache. The man looked like the poster child of Hitler's "perfect race."

"The name's Castaway. Jon Castaway and these," he indicated the guards beside him, "are my Quarrymen."

* * *

I hope this is a good enough start for everyone. I hope to have chapter 1 out soon. 

Ja ne!

Ranitagoyle


	2. A New Face In Town

**Power of the Elements**

By Ranitagoyle

Feedback to: www . gargsmoon . com or www . livejournal . com / users / ranitagoyle /

Series/Sequel: This is the sequel to The Energy and the first in the Elements Trilogy.

Timeline: It's been six months since The Energy and six years since the first X-Men movie.

Disclaimer: Refer to the prologue.

_Italics _denote thoughts

**Bold** denotes location change

"…" denotes regular speak

'…' denotes thought speaking

* * *

**Chapter 1: A New Face In Town**

**December 9, 2004**

Manhattan was a city under siege. It wasn't a threat from foreign lands, but one from within. For the past few weeks, the NYPD, particularly the Manhattan department, had been overrun with riot calls. These calls were caused by the Quarryman and their new allies, the Friends of Humanity. The two groups were either tearing the city harassing every possible mutant or mutant-friendly organization and crashing People for Interspecies Tolerance (PIT) rallies or damaging buildings with gargoyle statuary.

Unfortunately, the trouble these groups caused called for every cop in the city to pull double shifts. Every cop included Detectives Elisa Maza and Matt Bluestone, her partner and head of the Gargoyles Task Force.

"Sometimes I wonder why I left the Bureau," Matt sighed as he rode shotgun in his partner's car. Elisa, who had foregone her normal red jacket in favor of a thicker black leather coat, glanced over at her partner.

"Aw, come on, Matt. Don't tell me you wouldn't miss the gargoyles, hunters, faeries, or the secret societies," she said, smiling.

"The gargoyles and secret societies I can deal with. Hell, I'd rather have a go with the faeries than deal with this mess the Q-men and FoH are causing," he said, leaning back into his seat.

"Yeah, we could at least arrest the hunters. I'm tired of working crowd control with these nuts," Elisa said.

"Speaking of these nuts, how is the clan dealing with them?" Matt asked. Before his partner could reply, the car was jerked to a fast stop. Someone or something had just run out in front of the car.

* * *

'I got to get away! They'll hurt me!' thought the girl. She could hear them. She could hear the mob chasing her. She could feel their hate. All she could do was run. She was unaware of the cars she jumped in front of, or the people she passed asking what was wrong. She would have remained unawares if she hadn't bumped into someone who refused to let her go.

* * *

Ranita was having one of those nights. She was late for her programming class due to another riot and now she was running late for her self-defense class. 

With her medium build and medium height, Ranita could easily pass for the average girl, but she wasn't. Ranita was a mutant. She was one of the most powerful mutants in the world, though she didn't know it or at least didn't acknowledge it. She was twenty, but she could pass for sixteen. She had medium brown skin and her dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

'Wolvie would kick my butt if I didn't stay in shape.' The thought of her mentor made her smile. It had taken the combined efforts of her brother's wife and herself to get Wolvie to let her go off to college in Manhattan, though she had to promise to continue training. Her happy thought were abruptly interrupted by a body slamming into her. All of her training kicked in and she refused to let the person go. The girl, Ranita realized the person she held was a girl, still struggled.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, kid," Ranita turned the girl to face her. Seeing the absolute panic in the girl's eyes, Ranita asked, "What's wrong, someone chasing ya?" Her voice seemed to finally reach the girl. The girl stopped most of her struggles and looked behind her. Ranita followed her gaze. Eyes narrowing as she saw the FoH members being stopped by a couple of cops, Ranita realized the reason the girl was running. She was a mutant.

"They'll kill me!" the girl screamed, beginning her struggle anew. Ranita knew that the girl was right. They would try to kill the girl, but not if she had anything to do about it.

One of the FoH members noticed that their query hadn't gotten far and they broke away from the police questioning them. Said police gave chase radicals.

"Down this way. Hurry!" Ranita led the girl down the alley and turned back toward the alley's opening. Holding her hand out toward the opening, there was a greenish glow. As if someone was mending the ends together, the walls quickly came together, closing the wall off. Running back and grabbing the girl, they ran to the other end of the alley. Together, the girls ran down the streets of Manhattan, trying their best to lose their pursuers.

The pair kept running until they were five blocks away, in a small park, from the alley they once occupied. Feeling relatively sure they were safe, Ranita turned to the girl.

"All right, lady. The only reasons those good ole boys would be chasin' ya are if you're a mutant or a friend of a mutant. Now, which is it, sweetie?" Ranita asked. Leading them to a bench that wasn't real dirty, they sat down and rested while the girl seemed to contemplate Ranita's question.

"I'm a mutant," the girl said, shyly.

"And what special ability have you been gifted with? You don't have to answer if you don't want," Ranita added.

Without hesitation, the girl said "I can amplify and use the abilities of other mutants around me. I guess you could call it copying." Ranita just look at the girl. _How could such a shy girl just offer up that kind of information without considering the consequences?_ Ranita wondered.

"I'm glad you told me, but next time don't be so trusting, sweetie. I know many people, both mutants and others, that would love to make use of your power." As soon as the words were said, Ranita wished she could take them back. The look of fear in the girl's face was enough to touch her heart.

"Okay, how a trade? Since, you told me something important about you I'll tell you something important about me. I'm a mutant, too. I can control the elements of nature. I'll do you one better. The name's Ranita." Ranita hoped her deal and easy smile was enough to put the girl back at ease. She knew her plan worked with she heard "Amiya."

"So, where are ya headed, Amiya?" asked Ranita, as they continued through the park. Receiving silence to her question, Ranita continued, "I know a place where the food is hot, and the couch isn't so bad. And if you don't mind I have some friends that can help you with your situation…" Realizing what she just said, Ranita managed to look embarrassed.

"And I just told you not to trust people out the talk to you because you're a mutant. Sorry, sometimes mah mouth runs away from mah brain. How about we just get the mah place and go at it from there?" Ranita asked. Ranita looked at her young companion and the girl silently laughing at her. "Hey! It wasn't that funny!" she said, though she smiled to take the bite out of her words. "So, you decided?"

Amiya let the last of her laughter out and then seriously considered the pros and cons of Ranita's offer. The pros were that she would have a warm place to sleep and food. The cons were that she would be going home with a virtual stranger, but then again Ranita hadn't done anything to her while they were alone in the park.

_Hmm, food, stranger, warm place to sleep, stranger…_ "Sure. Can't get any worst than what I am doing now," Amiya said.

"Good! Come on, we aren't far from my apartment and since it's so close to Christmas, I'll do you the honor of trying mah secret recipe for hot chocolate," said Ranita.

* * *

It turned out that Ranita's apartment was just on the other side of the park. Though the apartment complex was in a 'bad neighborhood,' you couldn't tell it from the inside. There were the usual staircase and a pair of elevators, but there was also something else. There was a security guard, but he didn't seem to be guarding anything. Ranita handed him a card and waited for him to swipe it through some type of computer. Reading the screen, he flipped a switch. The wall opened up to reveal another elevator with a hand shaped emblem on front of the doors. 

"Please, place your right hand on the door," the guard instructed. Ranita walked up to the door and did as the guard said. The guard, satisfied, turned toward the two girls.

"Welcome home, Ms. Kimble and have a good evening," the guard said, holding the card out to her.

"You too, Sam, and what have I told you about that 'Ms. Kimble' stuff," she said, taking the card from him. Sam just smiled and turned back to his monitor. Ranita and Amiya just stepped inside the elevator. Once the doors were closed, Amiya turned to her host.

"Where in the world have you brought me?" Amiya queried.

"I told you it would be safe, didn't I?" Ranita asked. Having nothing to say to that, they continued the elevator ride in silence.

The elevator halted and the doors opened not to a hallway, but to an actual apartment. Once the two were inside, Amiya got a chance to see how her new friend lived. The apartment itself was spacious, to say the least. To Amiya's right, there was a kitchen (kitchenette just didn't cut it) and to her left there was a door that led to who knew where. There was a six foot Christmas tree in the corner, decorated with many ornaments. While Ranita made her way to the kitchen, Amiya opted for the floor in front of the couch. In front of her was a small television set and next to it was a stereo system. _There's nothing really threatening about this place…well, except for the front door,_ Amiya thought.

"Girl, if you don't get up offa that floor…" Ranita's voice snapped Amiya up and out of her thoughts. She turned around to see her hostess holding two cups and a slight frown on her face.

"I didn't want to get your couch dirty," Amiya said, looking down. Ranita eased the frown and shifted one of the cups until it was in Amiya's line of sight. When Amiya took the cup, Ranita moved to sit on the couch and patted the cushion next to her, in a silent command for her guest to sit.

"Look, you are a guest. I don't want you bein' uncomfortable just because you don't want to get something dirty," Ranita sat her cup on the small side-table. "I'm sure you've noticed that I'm not exactly hurtin' for cash, so whatever gets dirty can obviously get cleaned. Don't worry about it," she smiled at the bashful girl beside her. "Anyway, I offered you the couch and I meant it." The two just laughed.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, how you drink you hot chocolate and get in a hot bath, while I make a few calls, okay?" Amiya nodded her agreement and Ranita got up to take her cup and headed for the kitchen area.

Stopping, Ranita turned back to her quiet guest. "Oh, and one more thing," Ranita held her hand out toward Amiya and her eyes changed from a dark brown to a fire red. Amiya felt the cup in her hands warm-up, the liquid within steaming. "There, that's better." As Ranita walked away, Amiya could only smile. _Well, this is an interesting situation with an equally interesting person_, she thought.

* * *

Elisa was tired and the last thing she wanted to be doing was additional paperwork. First, she had almost hit someone with her car. Then, almost immediately she had to deal with FoH members, who were obviously chasing the someone she had almost hit. She and Matt had managed to cuff a couple of the men while the rest ran off in pursuit of a couple of girls. _One of those girls was a mutant or something more_, she thought, recalling how the girl's eyes had glowed green before the wall sealed itself. 

"Maza!" a voice shouted above the cacophony of the bull-pen. Elisa turned to see her boss, Captain Maria Chavez, standing in front of her desk. Elisa could see that her captain wasn't pleased.

"Yes, captain?" Elisa asked.

"What have you been able to get out of those FoH thugs?" Chavez replied. Elisa could see that these past few weeks have had as much if not more of an impact on her captain than she let on. But, she knew better than to bring it up.

"Well, before they lawyered-up, one of them let it slip that 'the boss' wanted the mutant alive and that soon there wasn't going to be a mutant to stop them," Elisa said, flipping through her little notebook. "I don't know what the last means, but it doesn't sound good."

Nodding, Chavez said "Finally, a clue as to what's got the Friends and the Quarrymen so riled up. Good work, Maza," turning to go back to her office, Captain Chavez looked back at her best detective. "Go home, Maza. That paperwork will be here tomorrow,"

And Elisa did just that.

* * *

**Westchester, New York**

**Xavier Institute for Gifted Children**

Logan was pissed and as he walked the halls of the Institute he wasn't opposed to letting everyone know it. Logan, also known to his friends and better known to his enemies as Wolverine, was known for being quick-tempered with equally quick reflexes. With everyone avoiding him like the plague, Logan made his way down to the Danger Room. Unfortunately, someone had beaten him to it.

Looking through the control room windows, Logan smiled at who working in the Danger Room. Down below, the woman known as Rogue was making short work of the robots.

"Lookin' good, darlin'. Care for some company?" Logan asked through the microphone.

She didn't stop her attack as she replied, "I'm almost done here. Gimme a minute and Ah'll be right up."

As soon as the simulation ended, Rogue flew up towards the control room window and waited for it to lower. Once lowered, she landed in front of Logan. She took one look at his face, then threw her arms around his neck and drew him down for a kiss. Though the kiss was unexpected, Logan easily adjusted and drew the young woman closer to him. Slowly, the two released each other from their kiss.

"Okay, what's got you so riled up that ya had to come down here to work it off, sugar?" Rogue asked.

Logan sighed. Rogue knew him better than anyone at the mansion, even before their relationship went to the next level.

"Little sister's at it again," was all he had to say. Rogue finally understood. Apparently, Ranita had gotten herself into some more mischief.

"What's Tempest done now? Pulled the toupee off the dean again during assembly?" she asked, walking over to the control console. "Surely, it can't be as bad as you're makin' it out to be."

"She rescued a mutant girl that was being chased by the Friends." That stopped Rogue's motions at the console and she turned back to Logan.

"Okay, so it's bad. What else?" she inquired.

"According to Chuck, Ranita brought the girl home with her. She's trying to talk the girl into joining the Institute, so she wants a couple of days to get the girl settled and convinced to come here," he growled out. As he explained, he started to pace, very similar to a caged animal.

It was silent as Logan paced, waiting for Rogue's reply. Finally, she started, "Sounds like a good—" only to be interrupted by Logan.

"Don't finish that sentence, darlin'," he warned. "The only reason she's even in Manhattan because she promised to keep her powers on the down low and knowing her, they didn't get rid of the Friends by normal means. I can't believe that you're siding with them on this! We should just go down there and get'em outta there before anymore trouble comes her way!"

Rogue knew from Logan's yells, growls and rapid breathing that his berserker rage was close to taking hold of him. She stepped in front of him, cutting off his pacing and said, "I think it's a good idea, Logan. If the girl's a little skittish around new folks, then let Tempest handle it. Tempest isn't a little kid anymore and you know she kick your ass for acting like this. You know she can take care of herself. Now," she put her ungloved hand against Logan's cheek, "tell me the real reason you're so upset about this."

"I just have a bad feeling about this whole thing, Marie. It just doesn't smell right," he snorted.

"Okay, how 'bout we take a trip to Manhattan in the morning, spend a day touring, then drop by Nita's apartment and introduce ourselves. That way Tempest gets her time, you can stop worryin' and I get a day to shop," she said, smiling. Logan couldn't help, but smile return.

"You know just howto fix things, darlin'." Though Logan continued to smile, he couldn't shake the feeling that something big was going down and that they would right in the middle of it.

* * *

Well, that's the end for now. I hope y'all enjoyed it. Email me and tell me what think! 


	3. On the Wings of a Mystery

**Power of the Elements**

By Ranitagoyle

Website: www . gargsmoon . com

Series/Sequel: This is the sequel to The Energy and the first in the Elements Trilogy.

Timeline: It's been six months since The Energy and six years since the first X-Men movie.

Disclaimer: Refer to the prologue.

'_Italics' _denote thoughts

"…" denotes regular speak

'…' denotes thought speaking

* * *

**Chapter 2: On the Wings of a Mystery**

**December 10**

**9:38 P.M.**

It began as a good day. Ranita took a day off from her defense class and took her guest shopping. With Professor's Xavier's permission, of course. The pair spent the day, mostly window browsing, but they managed to buy Amiya a couple of outfits. The girls returned to Ranita's apartment to drop off their bags thus ending their day of shopping, though the sun had set over the city a few hours ago.

"You hungry, Miya?" Ranita asked. The girl just nodded. Amiya couldn't help but be amazed at how quickly she and Ranita had become friends. "Good, 'cause I know this great pizza place that's still open… uh, you do like pizza, right?"

Amiya smiled and said "As long as it doesn't have anchovies."

"I knew there was a reason I liked you," Ranita said, making her way to the door.

* * *

The girls made their way to the pizzeria. Toni's was the casual diner. The blue booths were old, but clean. The service was friendly and the pizza was great.

"Evening, Nita! The usual?" the young guy behind the register greeted.

"Of course, but make it a large, Billy," Ranita told him as she and Amiya made their way to one of the unoccupied booths. After the waitress took their drink orders, the two sat in silence. Finally, Amiya decided to ask some questions that had been on her mind.

"Tell me about the Institute. Is it nice?" she said curiously.

Surprised at the normally shy girl's directness, Ranita took her time to think about her home in Westchester.

"It's a runaway's paradise. It's a place where you don't have to worry about where the next meals are gonna come from. The Professor tries to make it a safe haven for mutants, especially those of us who had a rough start." Amiya noticed that Ranita had said 'us.' She wondered if Ranita was talking about mutants in general. '_Maybe we have more in common than I first thought,'_ she thought. She listened while Ranita told her about the school within a school. And some of her misadventures with her friends while there. Though the thought of training in the Danger Room (Ranita promised that the Danger Room was for the advanced students only) frightened her, Amiya thought the school as a whole was a wonderful opportunity.

"I'll do it," Amiya said, interrupting Ranita's tale about how Jubilee had colored Wolverine's hair yellow. It took Ranita a moment to catch what Amiya had said, but when she did, she smiled.

"Great! Now before I start runnin' my chatty Kathy mouth again, do you have anymore doubts, questions, frustrations you'd like ta tell me about before I call the Professor with the O.K.?" Ranita asked.

"Just one question. Why? Why are you doing all this for me?" she whispered her question.

Ranita couldn't help but wryly smile. "Let's just say that I know what it feels like to have nowhere to go," she replied, though she wouldn't elaborate. Before Amiya could reply, the waitress came with their pizza. For the next hour, the two devoured their meal with small conversation.

They had finished their dinner and were about to leave when there was a disturbance from the front of the diner. There were a couple of people in bluish-gray body armor with full masks to make their identities indistinguishable. '_Damn it! Q-Men,'_ Ranita thought. The Quarryman or Q-Men, as they were sometimes called, were radicals against gargoyles and were on a mission to destroy them. But apparently their prey wasn't of the gargoyle variety tonight.

Their presence had obviously caused a stir in the small crowd in the diner. Ranita could hear the customers muttering, questioning the possible reason the Quarrymen were there. Unfortunately, Ranita and Amiya had a sneaking suspicious of what they wanted.

"Shut up!" one Quarryman shouted, receiving silence at his shout. "Now, all of you nice folks are going to tell us if you've seen this girl or you're not going to have a nice evening," he threatened. The photo he held up was a picture of Amiya. "She may have a friend with her."

Billy looked at the picture. He recognized the girl as the friend that Ranita bring in with her. Sparing a quick glance to Ranita's table, Billy saw that the girls were holding their heads down, trying not to draw attention to themselves. The Quarryman with the picture was slowly headed toward their table.

"What do you want her for?" Billy asked, looking at the Quarrymen. The Quarryman turned around to address Billy's question.

"She's a mutant and what we want with her is none of your—" the Quarryman stopped with he noticed Billy's eyes flicker to something behind him. He turned to find an empty table and a still swinging back door.

"After them!" the leader yelled as he and his fellow Quarrymen ran out the door.

* * *

Ranita was just about fed up with the situation. After they'd snuck out the back door of Toni's, Ranita had hoped they could have just walked out of the side alley and get back to her apartment. No such luck. Ranita could hear the leader not far behind them and apparently he was calling for back-up. Ranita exited the side alley then she and Amiya started darting pass evening pedestrians.

"Do you trust me, Miya? 'Cause if you do, I got an idea," she explained.

"Yeah, I do," was all Amiya could say.

"Good, then follow my lead," she said and continued to run for about a block. Then abruptly she turned right into another alley, which turned out to be a dead end. With nowhere to go, Ranita and Amiya turned to their pursuers.

"Hello, boys. Nice night for a mob, isn't it?" Ranita said, looking at the people gathering in the alleyway. _'Too many for the simple stuff_,_'_ Ranita thought.

"Hands up, mutants," one of the men, obviously the leader of the pack. Seeing that everyone else had their gun out and pointed at them, Ranita and Amiya did as they were instructed. As the Quarrymen slowly encircled the girls, Ranita started to concentrate. Eyes close, she drew from the deepest well of her power and being.

'_The powers of water and air…'_

"Now, be a couple…"

'_Unite to fight…'_

"of nice girls…"

'_And defend us this night!'_

"and come along quietly," the leader said, waving toward the van that had pulled up.

"Who said anything about being a nice girl?" Ranita's eyes snapped open showing a yellowish tint instead of the normal pupils. Suddenly, a tornado force wind filled the alleyway and the screams began.

* * *

**Above Manhattan: 5 minutes ago**

"Quiet night. Don't you think, Brooklyn?" asked Lexington, as he glided next to his rookery brother.

"Yeah, quiet," was all the reply Lexington was going to get from his normally wild brother. Lex understood the reason behind his brother's melancholy mood. Earlier that year, Brooklyn had his heart broken once again by Sailor Venus. Though, he had more or less gotten over it, the approach of the Christmas holiday had thrown his brother back into his moodiness, or rather his loneliness.

"Look, Brook, I know you're bummed, in fact the entire clan knows it, but you're not helping the situation. It's not like you're alone in it," Lexington said.

"And what do you want me to do about it, Lex? It's not like I can ask Goliath for a vacation to find a girlfriend," Brooklyn snapped back. His olive-skinned brother didn't even react to his brother's attitude, but decided to answer Brooklyn's question.

"Maybe not in those words, but yeah. That's exactly—" He was interrupted by screams coming from their left.

"We'll settle this later. Let's go!" The two gargoyles veered to the directions of the screams. All of a sudden, they confronted a torrent of wind, which forced them to land on a nearby roof.

"What the heck is that! A tornado? In the middle of Manhattan?" Brooklyn asked, loudly. He dug his talons into the roof and pulled his wings in.

"Unlikely," shouted Lexington. Brooklyn signaled that he understood and preceded to run on all fours across the adjacent rooftops. Finally, they arrived at the rooftop above an alley, but the screams had stopped and the winds were easing down. The duo glided down to get a closer look at the alley. They found Quarrymen. Someone or something had managed to knock the Quarrymen, at least those not fast enough to get away, unconscious. Their bodies were scattered about alley, some of them were even laid out in the sidewalk.

"What did this?" Lex questioned, not really expecting an answer.

"I did, gargoyle," a deep voice came from behind them. They turned to find, hidden in the shadows of the alley, for all tense and purposes, a dragon.

This dragon wasn't the typical dragon with the large body and enormous wings. Its body was fashioned after the dragon of Chinese legend. It was thin with scales ranging from the deepest cerulean to the brightest blue. His eyes glowed with golden yellow. Though it had no wings, its body floated… above two unconscious girls.

Brooklyn and Lexington's eyes blazed and wings flared. Their instinct to protect surged. "Who are you and what did you do to them?" Brooklyn demanded.

"Stand down, gargoyle. I only did what I was summoned to do. There is no time for this. We shall finish this discussion on the roof." With that, the dragon encircled the girls and levitated to the top of the building.

Wanting an explanation and to avoid being spotted, Brooklyn and Lexington sank their talons into the brick to quickly scale the building. They made it to the top just as New York's finest were arriving. Seeing that the police had everything in hand, Brooklyn turned to the reason they were on the roof. The dragon had the girls laying on its long, scaled body. The girls appeared unharmed.

"I ask again, who or what are you and what have you done to them," Brooklyn calmly demanded.

"I am called Wyndigore. Tis been a long time since I've encountered any of your kind. The young mistress is just tired from summoning me and her friend was apparently hit with some kind of calming magic. Now, I ask a question. Are you still a noble race or have you too lost your way?" he asked. The growls that reverberated through the gargoyles at the insult seemed to be the answer Wyndigore was seeking.

"Good. Then I charge you with the protection of my mistress and her friend. My presence here is demanding on her and I must return. Do you accept?"

Nodding, Brooklyn waited for the dragon to uncoil itself from around the girls. Surprisingly, Wyndigore did not just uncoil itself, he levitated the girls into the arms of their new found protectors. It was then that Brooklyn got a closer look at the girl in his arms. Though young looking, she couldn't be no more than twenty. Her shoulder-length dark hair framed an equally dark face held a child-like innocence. Brooklyn knew then that he would keep her safe.

"With that settled, I bid thee farewell." Brooklyn and Lexington watched while Wyndigore simply faded into the night.

"Okay, Brook. This might seem like a weird question, but what in the world have we gotten ourselves into?"

"Good question. I'll let you know when I figure it out," he said, stepping to the roof's edge. "You got her, Lex?"

"I got her. She's very light," Lex observed. With his tail wrapped snugly around the girl's waist, Lex had the girl effectively 'tied' to his back, leaving his arms free to glide. Together, they dove off into the night, making their way to their home in the sky.

Castle Wyvern.

Brooklyn looked to the girl in his arms and couldn't help but think, _'How the heck am I going to explain this to Goliath?'_

* * *

**Ranita's Apartment Building **

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY AIN'T BACK YET!" Logan's voice echoed in the empty lobby. Sam Guthrie, also know as Cannonball, flinched at the violence in Logan's voice. He knew the Wolverine was slowly coming to the surface.

"She told me that they were going to the pizza place down the street and would be back in a little bit…" His voice trailed off when he saw the Wolverine slam out of the front door. He blinked for a minute then turned to Rogue. "Sorry, Rogue. Nobody told me to be on the lookout for anything—" The hand that Rogue held up and the sympathetic smile on her face stopped him.

"Don't worry so much, Sam. I'm sure they just got to talkin'. You know us girls," she said, leaving to catch up to her husband before he did something they'd all regret. Once she was gone, Sam slumped in his seat with relief. _'I don't care how long I'm supposed to be here. Tomorrow, the Professor's gonna have to find someone else to take over_,_'_ he thought.

"You didn't have to scare him, Logan," Rogue scolded as soon as she caught up to him. Logan looked at her and saw the frown on her face.

"He doesn't realize the trouble that follows little sister. Besides, he needed a good scare," he grinned. Rogue couldn't help but laugh a little at that. Together, they walked into Toni's. There was nothing spectacular about it. The smell of cheese, pepperoni, and other pizza toppings flooded Logan's nose. He ignored them and searched for the familiar scent of his little sister. He found the scent at a table near the back door, but it was wrong. There was a twinge of something that Wolverine knew all too well. Fear.

"Hey, kid," he shouted to the guy behind the counter. "What happened to the two girls that were sittin' here?"

"Quarrymen. Chased them outta here about twenty minutes ago," Billy told them. Rogue watched as Logan's back tensed. She quickly grabbed his arm and led him to the door. With a smile, she thanked the young man and they stepped into the cold night air.

"You think you can track her, Logan?" Rogue asked. She watched as his body slouched forward and heard him scenting the air, trying to find Ranita's scent.

"Got it, but it's faint," he said, taking off in the direction of Ranita's scent. Rogue followed close behind. Soo, they saw a crowd of people cornered off by police tape. The pair stopped a block away and ducked into a nearby alley.

"Why don't Ah get up on the roof to get a sky view of what happened while you see what you can hear from down here?" Rogue suggested. With a nod from Logan, she quickly rose to the building's rooftop.

Logan came out of the alley and made his way to the crowd. He could hear crazed shouts the closer he got.

"I didn't sign on for dragons!" one woman yelled as she was shoved into the back of a cop car. Logan watched and listened as other Quarrymen with similar stories were put into squad cars. Then a red Fairlane pulled up to the scene. A man and woman got out of the car and flashed their shields to the officer standing outside the police tape. The officer lifted the tape to allow them entrance to the scene. While the woman went toward the alley, the man walked toward one of the other detectives on the scene. Logan played close attention to the man since he knew Rogue would watch the woman.

"Bluestone, Gargoyle Task Force. I want everyone of the Quarrymen taken to the 23rd for questioning. What happened here?" Matt Bluestone.

"Briscoe, 25th precinct, from what we can gather the Quarryman chased two girls to this alley. There's no sign of the girls. The only thing we found on arrival was these nuts waking up," Briscoe concluded. Bluestone noted the man's conclusion, nodded his thanks and went to join his partner. Deciding that he had all he needed, Logan walked back to the nearby alley and waited for Rogue to come back.

He didn't have to wait long. Rogue landed next to him. He told her what he heard from his end and after she began to report what she observed.

"The woman, Maza, seemed to search the alley. She was looking for somethin', Logan. And she musta found it too 'cause all she did was nod and met up with her partner. That's not the weirdest thing though. I found claw marks up on the roof," she paused when she saw him tense up.

"Show me," he said. Nodding, Rogue grabbed Logan underneath his arms and flew with him to the very spot she sighted the claw marks. Setting him down, she watched as Logan examined the marks.

"I know it couldn't have been Sabretooth unless he don' had his claws dipped in adamantium. Then again there are only four marks for each hand so that points to somethin' else entirety," she rambled.

"You're right about it not being Sabretooth and about the number of marks. There were five of them including Ranita. What worries me is that three of 'em aint' even human," Logan said.

"I'll call the Professor and see if he can find her with Cerebro while you're gettin' us a taxi," she said.

"A taxi?" Logan questioned, a little bit thrown off by the request.

"We need to report Ranita missin', Logan, and what better place than where all those Quarrymen were taken. We might be able to find out what really went on here," Rogue concluded her explanation.

"I love the way you think, darlin'," he said with a weak smile. Rogue stepped closer to his body and rubbed her hand against his stubbled check.

"We'll find her, Logan, and I'm sure she'll be fine," she said laying a gentle kiss on his other cheek. Not wanting to say anything to that, Logan just nodded. Together, they made their way off of the roof and set about putting their plans into motion.

**Meanwhile on another rooftop…**

"Wings have the target. I repeat, wings have the target. Advise," a voice spoke through a walkie-talkie.

"Acquire the target. Use any means necessary," the voice on the other end commanded.

* * *

That's the end of this chapter. I hope everybody enjoyed it! 


	4. Chase with a Side of Escape

**Power of the Elements**

By Ranitagoyle

Website: www . gargsmoon . com

Series/Sequel: This is the sequel to The Energy and the first in the Elements Trilogy.

Timeline: It's been six months since The Energy and six years since the first X-Men movie.

Disclaimer: Refer to the prologue.

'_Italics' _denote thoughts

"…" denotes regular speak

'…' denotes thought speaking

**Special thanks to QueenTatoonie for reviewing.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Chase with a Side of Escape**

**December 11**

**23rd Precinct – 12:10 A.M.**

Elisa loved a good mystery, but the way the past few weeks have been going, it seemed like the end was far from sight. Earlier, a call came in that Quarrymen were disturbing the peace at a pizza place. When she and Matt interviewed the cashier, he said the Quarrymen had chased two girls out of the back door. Just as they were halfway back to the station, Matt received a call requesting his presence at the scene of a multiple Quarrymen arrest. When they arrived there wasn't the usual babble about gargoyles being abominations. This time the extremists were screaming their heads off about dragons.

While Matt conferred with the on-scene detective, Elisa had gone to the alley to see what she could pick up. Some of the gargoyles had been there, which was evident by the huge holes in the brick walls. Seeing nothing else unusual, she and Matt had returned to the station along with a dozen or so Quarrymen. For nearly two hours, she and Matt had been questioning the Quarrymen. Many of them lawyered up before she could question them, but from the few that didn't she was able to piece together what happened.

Apparently, they were sent to 'pick-up' the girls and ended up chasing them to that alley. Then one of the girls created a dragon or something and that was all they remembered. _'Is this the reason Manhattan's been turned upside down?'_

"Elisa?"

'_All of this over one mutant girl?'_

"Elisa?"

'_But what does Castaway want her for?'_

"Elisa!" a voice shouted, jolting Elisa from her thoughts. Looking up from her desk, Elisa realized her partner was the one calling her and it seems that he'd been doing it for a while. "Where's you mind at, partner?" Matt asked, concerned.

"It's nothing. What you got for me?" Elisa asked, seeing the file in Matt's hand.

"Remember how we told missing persons to be on the lookout for any reported?" he asked. "Well, it seems that a Logan Griffe reported his 20-year-old sister missing." He handed the file to Elisa. Opening the file, Elisa was met with a shock. The picture in the file was of the girl from last night! Those magical green eyes were replaced with normal brown ones. The girl and the man in the photo with her were wearing work-out clothes and had towels thrown across their shoulders. Elisa quickly scanned through the rest of the file and found one thing off about it.

"Matt, where's the contact number?"

"That's the other reason it was rushed here. The brother and his wife refused to leave one until they talked to a detective about her case. Guess who wins the prize?" he said, putting his feet up.

Sighing, Elisa got up taking the file with her and asked, "Where are they?"

"They've been in interview room five for about an hour," he said. Elisa turned and headed for the interview room. "Have fun, partner."

"Bluestone… get back to work."

* * *

It's been an hour. A long hour for Rogue as she watched Logan pace the room like a caged animal. After they'd went back to Ranita's apartment, they'd contacted the Professor about the situation. He hadn't had any luck finding Ranita with Cerebro. _'That meant one of two things: she was unconscious and guarding, or… Well, the second reason was unacceptable,'_ Rogue thought.

"What the hell's takin' so long?" Logan growled, pounding his fist into the wall. "Calm down, Logan. You saw all those Quarrymen. They're probably just questionin' them," Rogue said softly, trying to calm her worried husband. The door opened and in walked the female cop they'd seen earlier.

"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Griffe. I'm Detective Maza. Sorry, it took so long. It's been one of those nights," she said.

"Did you find the bastards that took my sister?" Logan said in his usual gruffness. Rogue was amazed to see that Logan's attitude that usually had people running wasn't having any effect on Maza.

"What makes you think your sister's missing, Mr. Griffe?" Elisa questioned.

"She and a new friend were suppose ta meet us at Toni's for a late night dinner, but they never showed. We went to her apartment. The doorman said they'd already left. So, we came here," Rogue answered.

"I'm gonna be straight with you. Tonight, we just arrested about a dozen Quarrymen. Eyewitnesses say they saw two girls being chased by them. Also the cashier at Toni's said that the Quarrymen had chased two girls out the back door. So, tell me, is there any reason why the Quarrymen would want Ranita or her friend?" The two looked at each other for a moment. Elisa took that moment to observe the couple. Mr. Griffe was obviously frustrated and angry and so was Mrs. Griffe to a lesser extent. Then, they turned back to the detective.

"We don't have a clue," Logan growled through clenched teeth. Though the angry and confusion was real, there was one thing that Elisa did know. _'Either they didn't know that Ranita was a mutant or they're lying,'_ she thought. Deciding to keep that to herself, Elisa managed to get a contact number and was escorting them out of the station.

"I'm sorry again for the inconvenience," Elisa said.

"Don't be sorry. Just find her," Logan replied. With that the Griffes hailed a cab and took off to where home was for the night. Elisa went back inside to fill Matt in on what the Griffes had told her. Then she decided to make a visit to the castle after her shift. _'Maybe Goliath or the others saw what happened or know where these girls are,'_ she thought as she picked up the phone.

* * *

**December 12**

**Castle Wyvern – 1:18 A.M.**

"Why aren't they awake yet? It's been five hours," Brooklyn commented as he leaned against the bed that Ranita laid in.

"From what I have been able to gather from what you and Lexington have told me, this young lady performed a summoning" Owen answered.

"What's a summoning and what does that have to do with her not waking up?" Lexington queried from his position next to Amiya's bed.

"A summoning is a ritual that allows the summoner to conjure a being using any of the natural elements: Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. The reason she is still unconscious is because she used too much energy to summon this Wyndigore," Owen explained. "This is the first summoner I've encountered in centuries."

"Are these… summoners dangerous?" Goliath asked.

"Untrained they are virtually harmless, but one with unfinished training could be a danger to herself and others," Owen clarified. Goliath, arms crossed over his wide chest, closed his eyes as he tried to sort through the information he'd just been given.

"They need our help, Goliath," Brooklyn said. "Wyndigore wouldn't have asked us to protect them if they could protect themselves."

"I don't know, Brooklyn. If she were truly harmless, then what about the Quarrymen in the alley?" Goliath inquired.

"She didn't do that, Goliath. Wyndigore did," Lexington argued. "Yeah, and even then nobody was seriously hurt." Brooklyn added. Seeing the unsure look on Goliath's face, Brooklyn decided. "Lex and I'll take sole responsibility of them," he said.

Goliath sighed. He knew that his second was right. Whatever the Quarrymen wanted with the girls, it didn't bode well for them or his race. "Very well. They are your responsibility," he indicated Brooklyn and Lexington. He turned back to Owen and said "Will Xanatos watch the girls if they awake after sun rise?" Goliath asked the majordomo.

"Give me a moment to confer with Mr. Xanatos." Owen headed out of the room, cell phone in hand. Once he was sure that Owen was out of earshot, Brooklyn asked "What are we gonna do if they can't stay, Golaith?"

"We would have to talk to Elisa or Talon and see if they can take them in for the day. If not, the safest place for them may be with the police," Goliath reasoned. That answer seemed to make both Brooklyn and Lexington more anxious to find out whether the girls would stay. Owen walked in, his facial expression normal, not giving anything away.

"Mr. Xanatos wants me to remind you that you have free reign of the castle and that any guest of yours are welcome." Brooklyn could feel the tension flow out of him at that. _'Well, that's one worry down,'_ he thought. Just then Owen's phone rang. He answered it. The conversation ended quickly.

"It seems that Detective Maza is on hold for you, Goliath," he informed.

"Settle this, Brooklyn." Goliath left them to speak with Elisa.

"How long will it be before they wake up?" Lexington restated Brooklyn's earlier question.

"With the summoner, I would estimate about 3 or 4 hours. As for her friend, it is hard to determine given the amount of tranquilizer she was shot with," Owen said, looking at the Amiya's test results.

"Then we probably should let them rest." Brooklyn led his rookery brother out of the room. That left Owen Burnett, also known as the trickster Puck, alone with the girls. _'Oh, this is going to be fun,'_ the Puck within smiled.

* * *

**4:50 A.M.**

Slowly consciousness returned to Ranita. _'Well, this place smells better than an alley,'_ she thought as she opened her eyes. _'This place looks like a dungeon, but I doubt they'd put two mutants in the same cell. Even if they're knocked out,'_ she thought when she saw Amiya on the bed next to her. She went over to check her and see if everything was okay. Other than a bandage on her arm, Amiya seemed fine. Seeing no windows, the only exit in the room was the door.

Ranita went to check the door to see if it was locked. Of course, it was. To the right of the doorjamb was an electronic keypad. Ranita quickly over-rode the locking system and unlocked the door. _'Remy's gettin' a big kiss when I see him.' _She went back to Amiya's bed and tried to wake her up, with little success.

"All right, then. Girl, you're gonna owe me big for this," she said, throwing Amiya over one of her shoulders. Once out of the door, Ranita saw that the dungeon look didn't end there. _'Okay, which way?'_ she asked herself. Feeling something pulling her to the right, Ranita with Amiya in tow went down the hall.

"Alex, me boy, that is a genuine summoner. They don't make'em like her anymore, so we gotta be careful not to break her," Puck whispered to the child in his arms. Alex cooed at his teacher and though he was too young to talk, Puck nodded as if he understood the boy. "Splendid idea, my boy. You are learning." The two vanished to watch the events unfold.

* * *

It was slow going and she was tempted to stop until she heard voices from ahead of her. Ranita quietly ducked through the unlocked door to her left and listened.

"Are you sure it's safe for them to be here, Goliath?" a female voice questioned.

"I see little choice in the matter, Elisa. They have to stay here… " the voices faded as they continued their journey down the hall. Sighing with relief that they'd gone unnoticed, Ranita sat Amiya down against the wall and took a look at her surroundings. With all the toys littering the floor and the playpen, Ranita assume she was in a nursery or playroom. But the room's most important feature was the window! Checking the window for any alarms and finding none, Ranita flung the window open… and saw the reason there wasn't any security.

"Damn it!" she said, looking out at the city of Manhattan below.

"I'll take that to mean we're in deep trouble," Amiya groaned as she slowly stood up and walked to the window.

"Ya got it in one. We're up _way_ too high for me to get us down. So we're stuck here, unless… " she said, setting a crucial eye on Amiya. "Do you think you can copy my power and fly yourself?"

Amiya tried to shake away the fog that clouded her mind with little success. "I don't know. I'm still kinda groggy, Ranita," she sighed, closing her eyes.

"Well—" What Ranita was about to say was interrupted by a green gargoyle in the doorway. "I found'em," it said as it stepped toward them.

"Go now!" Ranita shouted to Amiya and turned to the green gargoyle. Eyes yellow and with a flick of her wrist, Ranita caught him in a vortex of wind and threw him into the mountain of toys near the wall.

"Lex!" another creature, this time red, cried from the doorway. With that, Ranita hurled her body out of the window and allowed the wind to catch and hold her. She floated over to Amiya's position, grabbed her hand, and darted through the sky.

Ranita glanced back to see the red creature jump from the window they'd just vacated. "Come on! If we can just make it to the street…" Ranita said, racing downward. Then, she felt the grip on her hand loosen and finally vanish, followed by a scream. Amiya was falling and there was only one thing she could do.

Ranita nosedived.

Once she was next to Amiya, she grabbed one of her arms and struggled to use her wind power to slow the girl's descent in a weird tug-of-war against gravity. And gravity was winning. Though what Ranita was doing _was_ slowing the already fast descent, it wasn't stopping it.

"Grab my hand!" a voice cried next to her. Ranita opened her eyes to see the red creature from before. "Grab my hand or you both are gonna die!" Amiya raised questioning eyes to Ranita. Ranita took a second and then nodded. She felt the weight lighten when Amiya took his hand.

"Can we go back to the Castle now?" the creature asked. Ranita looke up to see that there was indeed a castle. A castle in the clouds.

"Um, I don't care where we go, but you guys better decide fast. I'm getting tired," Amiya said, dangling between the two fliers. Ranita nodded and they began their ascent back to the castle.

* * *

Once the girls were safely back on solid ground, there was really only one thing to say.

"Somebody better tell me what the heck is goin' on here, and who y'all are!" Ranita exclaimed, as she and Amiya backed-up toward the window.

"What you gonna do if we don't? Jump again 'cause that really worked," the red one smirked. Ranita blushed, in part from embarrassment because he was right and in another part from anger because he had the nerve to point it out.

"Now, looky here. I don't care if you're a gargoyle or not, I'll take you down so fast it'll make ya beak spin," Ranita said, getting in Brooklyn's face. Amiya stood shocked at how such as friendly, sweet girl had turned into an angry wildcat before her eyes.

"I'd like to see you try, short stuff," Brooklyn baited, poking his talon at Ranita's chest. On the next poke, Brooklyn found himself on his back with his arms trapped at his sides and a weight on his chest. Eyes widened in shock, Brooklyn was dumbfounded.

"The name's Ranita, Red. Not 'short stuff.' Remember that," she whispered into his ear.

"What's goin' on here, lads? Oh, I see you found the lasses," a voice with a Scottish brogue called from the door. The gargoyle at the door had tan coloring. He was obviously the an elder of the group with his white beard and hair. Ranita lifted off of Brooklyn, allowing him to get up and to restore some semblance of dignity.

"Nothing, Hudson. Tell Goliath we found them and that they're fine," Brooklyn said through gritted teeth. He tried to ignore the grins that both Lexington and Hudson were holding. "Could you tell Goliath that we'll meet him in the main lobby?"

"No problem, lad." He turned and left, with the grin on his lips.

Brooklyn turned to the girls and said, "If you want to find out what's going on, I suggest you come with us." He indicated for the rest of the group to go first. Lex led the group out followed by Amiya.

When Ranita was about to walk past Brooklyn, he whispered to her, "The name's Brooklyn, not Red. _You_ remember that." She continued to walk pas as though he hadn't said a thing, but inside Ranita smiled.

'_So he wants to play, huh? All right, let's play.'_

* * *

Lexington looked at the girl next to him. Though she looked better than she did in the med-lab, she still appeared tired.

"Are you okay?" Lexington asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," she said. Then she added, "Thanks for asking."

Again there was silence between them until "My name's Lexington. You can call me Lex for short. What's your name?"

Amiya considered his question. She didn't want these gargoyles to know too much about her (in case she had to run for it), but if she got defensive, would they suspect she had something to hide? _'Well, my name couldn't hurt,'_ she thought. "My name is Amiya."

Lexington smiled, pleased that the quiet girl gave him her name. They had arrived at the doors of the Great Hall. Lexington pushed the doors open and allowed Amiya and Ranita to enter. He and Brooklyn followed behind them.

In the hall, there were a couple more gargoyles and a couple of humans. The one of the gargoyles was the one Brooklyn had called Hudson. The other gargoyle that stepped forward had a lavender coloring with long dark brown hair.

"Hello, ladies. I am please to see that you are unharmed. I am Goliath."

"Well, I must say, the name suits ya," Ranita said. She stepped forward to act as a shield for Amiya if need be.

"You got that right," Amiya murmured from behind Ranita. Ranita watched as Goliath's grim expression broke into a small smile.

"You are not the first to tell me that. Now, if you could please tell us who you are and perhaps why the Quarrymen are after you." Ranita quickly realized why Goliath was leader. His presence commanded obedience and his physical essence demanded authority.

"My name's Ranita Kimble and this is Amiya Johnson," she indicated the girl behind her. "As for what the Quarrymen wanted with us, other than they think we come from the deepest pit of Hades, we haven't a clue."

"I see. Then, I think it would be best if both of you remain here in the Castle until we can figure it out what Castaway wants with you."

Ranita bristled at the obvious command. "Hold on a minute! We're not gonna be anyone's prisoners. Yours or the Quarrymen's." Ranita declared. Slowly, the two girls edged away from the group of gargoyles.

"Not prisoners, my dear ladies. My Guests," a man stepped forward.

The man wore a black suit that seemed tailor-made for him (and it probably was). He had a beard that was neatly trimmed and his dark hair was gathered in an equally neat ponytail at the back of his neck. Where Goliath commanded one's attention, this man drew it, subtlety. _'He's the kind of man Wolvie always told me about. Dangerous,'_ Ranita thought.

"Who are you?" Amiya questioned.

"David Xanatos. I am the proprietor of this castle. Goliath has told me of your situation and I would like to extend an invitation to you. You may stay here as long as you need to as our guests," he explained.

"And if we want to leave now?" Ranita inquired.

"Then you are free to leave," Goliath replied. "It was never our intention to hold you against your will here."

Amiya could see that Goliath was sincere. She looked at her friend and saw that she was a second away from telling them goodbye.

"I don't—" Ranita started.

"Can we have a moment?" Amiya interjected.

"Of course," Goliath said as he waved his hand for Brooklyn and Lexington to join him, giving the girls their privacy.

Amiya pulled Ranita closer and spoke to her softly, "I think we need to think about this."

"What's there ta think about? They want ta keep us prisoner here. I think we'll be safer back at my place," Ranita argued.

"That's all well and good for you, but you're not the one the Friends and Quarrymen have been chasing!" Amiya exclaimed.

Her exclamation stunned Ranita into silence. Seeing no reply coming, Amiya continued, "So, you'll have to excuse me for wanting to stay somewhere safe."

Ranita looked at Amiya and saw that she was determined to fight her on this. But she saw something else when she looked into Amiya's eyes. Fear. With a sigh, Ranita acquiesced to Amiya's request. Ranita turned back to the gargoyles and said, "Okay. We'll stay here. But first I need to call my brother. He and his wife are suppose ta drop by for a visit."

"It's a little late for that," said the lady with the long black hair and red leather jacket.

"What do you mean, uh…" Ranita said.

"Detective Elisa Maza. What I mean is that your brother and sister-in-law are already in town and have already reported you missing," she explained.

'_Oh, Hades! Now, he'll never let me hear the end of this,' _Ranita sighed as she sat down on one of the couches in the room. "What does he know?"

Elisa explained her discussion with Mr. and Mrs. Griffe earlier that night. "Well, I better call them and let'em know I'm all right," Ranita said, though she had a feeling that a phone call wasn't going to placate Logan.

"I think it'd be best if I contact your brother. I could tell him that you and Amiya have been placed in protective custody until the end of the investigation," Elisa offered. Though Ranita knew that phone call was going to be far from pleasant, it was better than what she could've come up with.

"If that's settled, please excuse me." With that Xanatos withdrew from the room.

"Lexington, Brooklyn, I am sure that Ranita and Amiya would like to rest. Why don't you take them some place they can rest?" Goliath said.

"Sure, Goliath," Brooklyn said. Together, the group left the Great Hall. Elisa walked from Goliath's side to stand in front of him.

"What do you think of them, Elisa?" Goliath asked.

"They seem like okay girls. Just in a bad situation," she answered.

"What would Castaway be wantin' with this summoner?" Hudson questioned.

"I'm not so sure it's her that Castaway wants. The Friends were chasing Amiya last night, so…"

"It could be either one of them," Goliath finished.

The silence lingered between them until Hudson broke in with "Maybe I should see what's on the television," and left. That left Goliath and Elisa alone. Elisa walked over the large gargoyle. Goliath enfolded Elisa in his arms and wings. Elisa could feel the rumble within Goliath's chest that signified his contentment.

"When will this end? First, it was the Negamoon family. It was the hatred and fear of the humans that drew them to us and now these 'Friends of Humanity' group is tearing the city apart." He sighed. "It is beginning to feel like a never-ending war, Elisa, and we are on the losing side."

"You can't think like that, Goliath. You have a right to exist, your clan has the right to exist, and your daughter has the right to exist. Don't let those bigots tell you different. You got me, Big Guy?" Goliath couldn't help, but smile and nod at the determination in her eyes. It was that will that first drew him to her.

"Good. Besides, we can't give up when we are one step closer to figuring out what Castaway is up to."

"You are right, Elisa. Thank you for reminding me," he whispered to her.

"No problem, Goliath," she slowly withdrew from the warmth of his embrace. "I better go. I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep." With that, Elisa left and Goliath went up to his normal resting place at the highest tower to think and to wait for the sunrise.

* * *

**2:35 p.m.**

Ranita awoke and for minute didn't recognize where she was. She knew it wasn't her bed and it sure wasn't her apartment. Seeing Amiya on the next bed asleep, Ranita remembered where she was. Castle Wyvern, home to David Xanatos and the gargoyles. Ranita went to the adjoining bathroom to freshen up and then headed for the door. _'Just because we're stayin' here doesn't mean I can't find a way out,'_ she thought.

That is exactly how she spent the next two hours. She found that the elevator needed a key card and had no type of override function. She found that many of the doors were made of steel and were locked. She found that the only way out without being detected was to fly from the parapets, since there were no cameras that she could see. She found that she was in an invulnerable Fort Knox.

Disheartened, Ranita decided to make her way back to her room. While walking halls, Ranita was in her own world, not really paying attention to where she was going. Then, she felt something hit her foot. Looking down, she saw a small ball and a small hand wrapping around the ball. She followed the hand and found a little red-haired baby looking up at her. Carefully, Ranita picked the child up. "Where did you come from, kid?" she gently asked. She looked around, expecting to see an adult, but found no one.

"All right. Let's find out where you're supposed to go." Ranita began to walk down the corridor, checking each room, trying to find the one the kid could have come from. Finally, her search was a success. She had come upon the nursery. At second glance, Ranita recognized it as the nursery she and Amiya had jumped from earlier that morning. _'That was one wild ride…' _she thought. Ranita snapped out of her thoughts when a wailing reached her ears.

Apparently, something had upset the baby in her arms. Ranita changed his (she quickly found out it was a he) diaper, he still cried. She tried to feed him his bottle from the mini-refrigerator, he still cried. She tried bouncing him, he still cried. Nothing seemed to satisfy him. Then, Ranita was struck with an idea.

Sitting him in the playpen, her eyes a light blue, she conjured three orbs of clear water, in mid-air in front of the child. Slowly, the balls started to speed up and weave around each other, sometimes smashing into each other. All the while, the child was giggling and smiling at the orbs' antics. Ranita allowed herself to smile and consciously relax for the first time since meeting up with the Quarrymen.

"I'm impressed," a female voice called from behind her. Whipping around and assuming a defensive position, Ranita saw a red-haired woman leaning against the doorframe. The woman was tall, maybe 5'9, with a slim build, but her most interesting feature was the fox tattoo over her right eye.

Though, Ranita didn't normally keep up with the celebrity group, she knew who the woman was. Fox Xanatos, former _Pack_ TV star and wife to David Xanatos. Fox walked over to the playpen. Sidestepping Ranita as if she wasn't there, Fox lifted her son into her arms and away from the orbs that had ceased to spin for him.

"Alex doesn't normally take to strangers so fast." Seeing that her son was content to play with her long hair, Fox turned back to her guest. "I am Fox Xanatos and this little prince is Alex," she introduced. "Which girl are you? Ranita or Amiya?"

"Ranita."

"Pleasure to meet you. Would you come with me?" Fox turned and walked out. She gave Ranita no time to reply, just to follow. "That was an interesting stance back there. Who trained you?" Seeing no harm in the question, Ranita replied "My brother." Fox led Ranita to a room that from the padded mat and the exercising equipment against the wall was obviously a gym. Fox put Alex in a playpen on one side of the room and turned to face Ranita.

"How about a match? The first one to hit the mat six times loses," Fox suggested. Ranita considered the offer. Fox seemed friendly enough, but then again she was an actress. _'Aw, what the heck? It's not like one match is gonna kill me,'_ she thought. And besides…she loved a challenge.

* * *

Amiya woke to find herself alone in their room. Figuring that Ranita had gone to do some exploring, Amiya made use of the adjoining bathroom. Once she was finished freshening up, she too left the room, though in search of dinner. It took a few twists and turns (one of which led her to Alex's nursery), but she finally found the kitchen. Seeing no sign of any cooking being done, Amiya took it upon herself to start dinner. Soon the steaks were broiled, the potatoes were mashed, the gravy was browned, and the blueberry muffins were cooling. Amiya was just about ready to load up her plate when David Xanatos walked in.

"Well, I must say, I didn't think that by inviting you girls to stay that I'd get a home-cooked meal out of it." He grabbed one of the muffins from their plate, taking a bite. "And a good one too." Amiya blushed at the praise. "It was nothing. I thought it was the least I could do since you've opened your home to us," she explained, squirming. "Umm, do you want something to eat? I made plenty."

Before he could reply, Ranita and Fox, with Alex in tow, walked in. "Great! I was starvin'!" Ranita exclaimed, picking up a plate and began putting food on it.

"What a nice surprise, David," Fox said as she walked over to her husband. "It wasn't me, my dear. We owe this wonderful meal to our guest, Amiya." He turned to the girl and saw her, once again, blushing over her plate.

"You know how to cook, Amiya?" Ranita asked. Amiya nodded. "My mother taught me when I was younger." Realizing that the girl wasn't going to elaborate, Ranita and Fox went back to filling their plates. Fox looked to her husband and saw that he wasn't doing the same.

"Why don't you join us, David?" she questioned as she put her plate down and headed to the refrigerator to get to some of the baby food for Alex. "Sorry. I still have some work to do," he replied. Ranita and Amiya watched the billionaire walk out of the kitchen, his steps resounding on the cobblestone.

"Hey, Fox. What time do the gargoyles wake up?" Ranita inquired. Fox paused in eating and glanced at her watch. "We have about half an hour before the sun sets. We have plenty of time." She turned to her son and cooed, "Does Alex want to go with us to see the clan?" Alex giggled at his mother's silly antics. The three women ate in silence with the occasional cry from Alex.

One minute before sunset found the three women and baby on the lower parapets with the statutes of Brooklyn, Lexington, and the others. They watched the sun sunk below the horizon and disappear. The sound of stone cracking and breaking drew their attention to the statues. With roars as loud as thunder, the gargoyles burst from their stone sleep. Once through stretching, the gargoyles realized they had company. Lexington jumped down onto the parapet, and walked over to Fox and Alex.

"Hi, Fox. Hi, Alex," he said, tickling the little boy's stomach. "Hi, Lex," Fox replied.

"What are we, chopped liver?" Ranita frowned, cocking her hip to the side, waiting for his explanation. "Yeah, Lex. What are they, chopped liver?" Brooklyn mimicked, mockingly. Ranita turned her glare his way, but the smirk refused to leave his beak. Lexington couldn't stop the blush that rose to his cheeks.

"Sorry, girls. Hi." Satisfied with his apology, Ranita turned to Brooklyn while Amiya went over to Lexington. "That's an impressive trick. Turning from stone to flesh and blood, but it begs the question," she said. She imposed her chin between her thumb and forefinger, looking at Brooklyn questioningly.

"What question?" he asked. Brooklyn knew by that look she gave him that he was going to regret asking. "Why does your head stay rock hard at when the sun goes down?" she asked innocently.

"Ouch!" Amiya winced while Lex drew a number one in the air.

"You're not the first one to think that," said a large gargoyle with blue coloring. "Hi, I'm Broadway." A female gargoyle with lavender coloring came up beside them and introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Angela."

"It's nice to meet you both. I'm Ranita and that's Amiya," she waved to said girl. Upon hearing her name, Amiya looked up and waved at the new gargoyles. Angela and Broadway waved back and then looked to Ranita and Brooklyn.

Barking came from behind them, they split and let a large doglike gargoyle to pounce forth. Ranita edged back away from the gargoyle. Broadway knelt down and gave the gargoyle a rub. "This is Bronx. He's our watchdog. He's harmless." Taking his word for it, Ranita inched forward and gave the guard dog a tentative head rub. "Nice to meet you too, Bronx," she said.

"Yeah, we know." Seeing her puzzled expression, Broadway quickly explained. "Goliath told us about you when we came back from patrol." Then Goliath glided down from his perch on the topmost parapet.

"Good evening, ladies," he greeted, and then turned to his charges. "Broadway, Angela, I want you paired to patrol by the docks. Bluestone called last night saying there were signs of Quarrymen activity in the area. Be careful. If you find anything, contact Bluestone and myself. Hudson and I shall patrol the university area. Brooklyn, Lexington, you will remain with the castle," he commanded. Though he wasn't saying it, Brooklyn heard the other command Goliath was issuing. _Stay with the girls_. He nodded and said "Yes, Goliath." They were all about to go their separate ways when…

"Wait, Goliath. I have something for you." Fox handed each gargoyle a thin necklace and a small in-ear headphone. She waited until they all had put them on. "Now, please, say your name and nicknames one at a time," she instructed. They did as she asked. "Good. These are new communication devices that Cyberbotics has developed. The necklace is in the microphone. It's made of adamantium, so you shouldn't have to worry about them being damaged or destroyed in a fight. The earpiece is also adamantium and is designed to fit a gargoyle's particular ear shape, so it shouldn't fall out. It is programmed to respond to basic commands. Lex, go into the castle. Broadway, call Lexington by saying 'Come in, Lex,' " she explained further. He did as she said and Fox watched him nod as Lexington responded.

"He says it's like I am right in his ear," Broadway relayed. "Good. Now…" Fox took the next five minutes to explain the other functions of the communication system. Once she was done, the clan thanked her and began to depart.

With their marching orders, Angela and Broadway dove off the turrets, heading for the docks. Hudson was next and Goliath was soon to follow when a thought stopped him. He looked back at his second and their guests. "Wear your communicators If there is any sign of trouble, call." Brooklyn nodded and Goliath went to join his mentor, who was hovering on the air currents.

"Now that's said and done, I think it's time for Alex's nap." After everyone said good night to Alex, Fox retreated to the castle's interior.

"I think I want to check out this new communication systems' network. Fox said I could access it from my terminal," Lex said, excited at the prospect of new technology. Realizing that he had left out everyone else, he asked "Do, uh, any of you want to check it out with me?"

"I think I'll pass on the new tech for now. Maybe later after you've cracked the codex," Ranita smiled at him.

"Me too, Lex. I've been reading this amazing book in the library and I'd like to finish it," Brooklyn apologized, though he knew how much his rookery brother loved his alone time with his new 'toys.'

"I'd like to go," Amiya voiced. "That's if it's all right with you, Lex?" She looked to Lexington, waiting for an answer. Lex scratched the back of his head in a nervous gesture. "S-sure. It's no problem," he said. Lex grabbed Amiya's arm and the two of them ran off to look at the new technology. It was obvious to Brooklyn that his shy brother had taken a liking to the equally shy girl, especially if he didn't mind her coming along on his tech trip. Unfortunately for Brooklyn, that left him alone with Ranita.

"Are you really going to the library or were you just saying that to spare his feelings?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes, I'm really going to the library," he said, ignoring the other half of her question. Ranita just stared at him for second then put on a smile. She extended her arm in front of her in the typical 'you go first' gesture.

"Then, lead the way, Red. I'd love to see what kind of books you guys have." Together, though one reluctantly so, they headed for the castle library.

* * *

**10:52 p.m.**

"Our guests are interesting. Don't you think so, Owen?" Xanatos asked his assistant. Slowly, he rewound the security tape. The tape was of Ranita and Amiya's escape from the infirmary to their daring jump from Alex's window. There was even some footage of what had happened outside the castle.

"Indeed, sir. Here are the files you requested." Owen handed over the files to his employer and stood in front of the desk while Xanatos perused them. Xanatos found Ranita's dossier was interesting.

A senior at Manhattan University, Ranita was majoring toward a degree in computer science technology. The next line of the file raised Xanatos' eyebrow. Apparently, Ranita had exceptional intelligence as her grades proved. _'An interesting prospective employee…'_ he thought. The rest of the dossier told general information of her education at Xavier's School of the Gifted. The school where her legal guardian and 'brother', Logan Griffe, worked. That wasn't the interesting part of her file. It was the fact that prior to her arriving at Xavier's School, there was no information about Ranita Kimble.

Amiya's file was what you'd expect from a runaway mutant. An average life in an average Midwestern town until her mutation activated. She has been missing for the last three months.

"The Kimble file is missing information, Owen. Dig deeper. There is something there that someone doesn't want us to find. I just know it." Xanatos handed the file back to the majordomo.

"Yes, Mr. Xanatos." Owen left to fulfill his orders while Xanatos went back to reviewing the tapes. He zoomed in on Ranita's face, her eyes an eerie yellow.

'_Who are you and what secrets do you hold?' _he asked the screen.

* * *

**December 13**

**2:26 a.m.**

"Done!" Ranita chirped as she shut the book she was reading. Brooklyn growled, his concentration shattered once again by the announcement.

"That's the fourth book you've finished since we've been here," he growled out.

"I can't help it if I'm a fast reader," she murmured. She got up and headed for the bookshelf to find another book.

Brooklyn watched her go with more jealousy than actual anger. The girl has read four 300+ page books in the past eight hours, while he had just finished the Lord of the Rings trilogy after reading for a week. Deciding that it was time to do something else, Brooklyn shut his tome and went over to Ranita. "How about we see what Lex and Amiya are up to?" he suggested.

Ranita, who was beginning to feel a tad bit cooped up, agreed. They walked in silence through the halls. Soon, that silence became too much for one of them. "So, Red, how did you guys end up living in a castle?" she questioned. For a minute it looked like Brooklyn wasn't going to answer, then "We've lived in this castle for more than a thousand years."

"Whoa, really? But this castle has only been in Manhattan for about three years," she said, confused.

Brooklyn stopped in his tracks and sighed. "It's a very long story. The short version is that a thousand years ago, our clan with the exception of Angela was locked in our stone sleep by a magic spell. Xanatos brought the castle and us here, broke the spell, and the rest is history."

Ranita stood there against wall, arms crossed over her chest, processing what he'd just told her. "Are you seriously trying to tell me that you lived a thousand years ago and are here now because of a magic spell?" she asked, incredibly. When he just nodded, Ranita looked for any sign that he might be joking, but it was obvious that he was serious. She shrugged, not quite ready to accept 'magic' as being real, and said "If you say so." She began walking again, Brooklyn next to her.

Brooklyn wanted to know what she had meant be that, but resolved to leave it alone for now. He decided to try a different tactic topic. "What about you? What are you doing in Manhattan?" he asked, politely.

"What makes you think I'm not from here?" she asked.

"Your accent. It has a soft tang to it that we don't hear much around here. So, where are you from?" he asked, his curiosity peeked. There was so little that they actually knew about their guests. _'It was high time they found out something'_, Brooklyn thought.

"I guess you could say that I'm a southern gal, but I spent most of my life in New York with my brother," she explained, but Brooklyn noticed that she never did answer either of his questions.

"What is your brother like?" he questioned.

She laughed, "Oh, no. If we're gonna play twenty questions, then it's my turn." She sneaked a glance to her left and noticed that he looked really embarrassed at being caught red-handed, so to speak. "Are y'all the only gargoyles out there?"

"For a long time, we thought we were. It wasn't until a year ago that we found other clans in England, South America, and Japan. What is your brother like?" he repeated his earlier question, not to be deterred.

Ranita sighed. She had hoped he'd forgotten that question. _'But fair is fair…'_ "Logan is the most extreme guy you could meet. He is very protective and he has a hot-temper. He is always ready for a fight and I pity whoever is stupid enough to get him riled up. I guess the best thing to say is that he is extremely loyal. He would go through hell for his friends and family. For someone who has never had anyone, that's the best thing to have in their life." She seemed wistful for a moment as her pace slowed. She seemed to shake it off and asked, "Where is Lex's terminal room? In the dungeon?"

Brooklyn laughed at that. "As a matter of fact…"

"You've got to be kiddin'!"

"…it is right around the corner." Brooklyn watched the expressions on her face change from astonishment to puzzled and finally to anger. Before the anger could fully register to Brooklyn, he felt a fist punch his shoulder. Hard. "Ow! What you do that for!" he yelled, rubbing his hurt shoulder.

"That's for trickin' me." She continued on around the corner. Once she cleared the corner, Brooklyn drew a point in the air. _'Now we're even,'_ he thought as he too headed for Lex's tech. lab.

The lab was more like a central hub for technology than an actual laboratory. There were computer terminals lining the wall, each one running something different. To Brooklyn's left, in the corner, was Lex's tinker station. It was the place Lexington broke machines down to see how they worked. The sight of the room brought a smile to Brooklyn's face. _'Lex was truly born ahead of his time. A thousand years ahead,'_ he thought as he listened to the beginnings of the tech talk passing between the olive gargoyle and the girl leaning over his shoulder.

Looking around, Brooklyn noticed something. "Uh, Lex? Where's Amiya?" he asked, interrupting their chatter.

"She said that she was still pretty beat from last night and was turning in for the night. She left about 12," he explained.

Satisfied with that, Brooklyn turned to leave. "Okay. Well, I'm going for a flight around the castle." When he saw the weird look Lexington was giving him, he added "To stretch my wings." Without waiting for anything further, Brooklyn left and headed for the parapets.

Once there, he un-caped his wings and dove into the night's sky. Slowly, Brooklyn left the wind and his instincts take over as he tried to work out his thoughts, which were of the Quarrymen and their guests. He was asking the same question that he was sure the others had asked themselves. _'Why? Why these girls?' _From what he'd seen, other than the typical first reaction, the girls didn't seem to mind gargoyles. So, Castaway wasn't looking to recruit them…at least not willingly. _'There must be something about the girls' powers that would benefit Castaway, but what? According to Elisa, the Friends of Humanity were chasing Amiya and Ranita interfered with them. So, what could be so special about Amiya?'_

"You know, I'm surprised you haven't flown into one of these towers by now," a voice interrupted, jerking Brooklyn out of his thoughts. He looked to his right and into the smiling face of Ranita, who was currently flying through the air on her back. Spooked, Brooklyn dropped a few feet before catching an updraft, coming back to Ranita's side. The girl was still flying on her back. What irritated Brooklyn was the slight smirk on the girl's face.

"Are you trying to kill me!" he yelled, eyes narrowed angrily.

"Aw! Did I scare ya, Red?" she asked, eyes closed, and still smiling.

"No! You just disrupted my thoughts," he shot back defensively.

"Whatever you say, Red. So, what were you thinking about? Pondering the mysteries of the universe?" she asked, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Not exactly. I was wondering why the Quarrymen are after you." He watched the smile slip from her face, her brows wrinkle, and her eyes open. Brooklyn could only guess as to what she was thinking about.

"What have you come up with?" she asked, her normally light voice becoming hard and serious. She turned her face toward Brooklyn, waiting for his response.

"Well, the only thing I could come up with that makes any sense is that he wants you girls for your powers. You didn't mention it earlier, but what are your powers?"

Ranita considered his question. Though she had only known for a short time, the shear fact that these virtual strangers had opened their home, their sanctuary, to a couple of girls who were bringing trouble to their doorstep made her trust them. Also the fact that she didn't have a clue as to why the Quarrymen or the Friends were after Amiya. After all, she was a sweet girl and she didn't look like she could hurt a fly, but maybe she was too close to the situation. _'Maybe Brooklyn can help. Scott did always say that a fresh perspective made for fresh ideas.'_ "Well, my power is defined as elemental manifestation and manipulation."

"Huh?"

She giggled at the look of total confusion and said, "Yeah, that's what I said when the Professor told me that. It means that I can make fire, water, air, or earth out of thin air and control them." She demonstrated this by snapping her fingers, eyes gave a brief minuscule flash of red, and a small flame balanced itself on her fingertip. Then she cupped the tiny fire in her palm and enfolded her fingers over it to form a tight fist. She opened it to reveal the flame gone, her skin unblemished.

"Cool!" Brooklyn exclaimed.

"Yeah," she chuckled mirthlessly, "Come on, let's land. I'm sure those wings are getting pretty tired." She and Brooklyn landed in the castle courtyard, Bronx running up to them. They gave him the perfunctory pets and hugs, then they continued their conversation.

"What about Amiya?" he asked.

"The only thing I know about her gift is that she can copy powers…" That reminded Ranita of what she'd told Amiya the night they met. _I know many people, both mutants and others, that would love to make use of your power._

"That's it! Castaway must want her to copy a mutant's power. But whose? There must be thousands of mutants in this city—" he said.

"If not millions and many with powers that could destroy this city if in the wrong hands," she interjected, thinking of her friends and family in Westchester.

"Then how—" Suddenly a flash of white light blinded Brooklyn. He heard Ranita scream. "Come in, Lex! We got trouble up here!" he shouted. He tried to open his eyes, but searing pain coursed through his eyes when he tried. "Ranita, where are you!"

"Sorry. I'm afraid that she's out at the moment." That was all Brooklyn heard before a sharp pain then darkness.

* * *

Ranita felt like the world was slowly coming back to her. From the fuzziness at the edge of her vision, she could only guess that she'd been knocked out…again. _'Damn it! I'm gonna need a CAT scan or something after this is done,'_ she thought as she sat up to take in her new surroundings. All around her were bars. She was in the middle of a steel cage. Beyond it, she was no one, not even a guard; just crates and machines. _'They're makin' this too easy,'_ she thought as she placed her palms facing the bars. She called to the fire within her to melt the cage. Nothing happened.

She looked at her hands, disbelieving. She tried again, yielding the same results. "What the hell?" she whispered, trying not to show any sign of panic. Inwardly, that was all she was doing. _'Where in the world are my powers!'_

"I see that you have noticed the absence of your abilities. You can thank the Genosanians for that," a cultured voice from the all directions around her. Ranita knew what he meant when she felt the area around her neck. _'Collared. Perfect…' _she thought as she fingered the Genosanian collar on her neck. Ranita walked presumably to the front of her prison and took a closer look at the machines that she had neglected earlier. Atop one of the machines was a camera.

Ranita spoke directly into the camera, "What have you done with Amiya and why am I here?" she questioned.

"I can assure you that nothing has been done to Amiya. Please step forward my dear and let our guest see that you are safe." At that a figure did step forward, but it wasn't the Amiya that Ranita knew. This girl was dressed in the outfit of a Quarrymen. Ranita looked into the girl's eyes, but found them empty. They lacked their usual shyness and laughter. She stood statuesquely, as if awaiting further orders.

"What have you done to her, Castaway!" she glared at the camera.

"Nothing. She is as she was programmed to be," Castaway said, but this time the voice didn't come from all around, but from the shadows next to Amiya. A man stepped forward into the light. His head mask-less, and his stance confident, as he walked toward the cage.

"What do you mean by that?" Ranita snapped at the man. "Amiya has completed the first half of her mission and now awaits the second and final steps," he explains.

"Final steps? What mission?" she said, waiting for him to explain more.

"Her ability is a fascinating one, isn't it?" he said as he looked back at the frozen girl. "But Amiya was just the first half on my plan. Her mission was to find a very special mutant and bring that mutant to me, but I needed her to be trustworthy, sympathetic. And what's more sympathetic than a poor mutant girl being chased by the Friends of Humanity?"

"If you wanted me, you should have been man enough to come and get me. Not send a little girl to do your dirty work," she snarled at him. "Anyway, it not like my powers can help you. My powers may cause a little chaos, but they cannot kill a whole race no matter how you try to work it," she laughed at that.

"I'm sure that the four elements that you usually command would do little to help my cause, but I know about the secret you hold. The secret of the fifth element."

Ranita tried to swallow the gasp she emitted from her throat. That was one secret she had vowed never to reveal. The Professor and Logan knew of it, but they had never seen it for themselves. It was the element that she had the shakiest control over and the fact that this madman was going to unleash it. Unleash it using someone who couldn't even handle an easy element like wind was beyond insane.

"You really are insane, you know that. If you try to do that, you could kill us all and not just the gargoyles you hate so much," she told him, still in shock over his plan.

"Maybe, but I'll see that the gargoyles are in hell before I join them," he laughed. He laughed the laugh of the insane. Ranita knew then that there was no talking to the man. As he and Amiya walked away from her steel prison, Ranita felt despaired. Without her friends knowing her location, there was a real possibility that Castaway's plan was going to work, and there was a real possibility that they were all going to die from it. There was only one thing she could do. She prayed. _'If You can hear me, we need a miracle down here.'_

* * *

Well, I hope you liked this chapter! It took a long time to write. I know there was very little X-Men in this chapter, but I promise that they will be all over it in the next one. Review and/or Email me and tell me what you think. 


	5. Right in the Eye of the Storm

**Power of the Elements**

By Ranitagoyle

Feedback to www . gargsmoon . com

Series/Sequel: This is the sequel to The Energy and the first in the Elements Trilogy.

Timeline: It's been six months since The Energy and six years since the first X-Men movie.

Disclaimer: Refer to the prologue.

'_Italics' _denote thoughts

"**_Yes…"_** denote television/past events

"…" denotes regular speak

'…' denotes thought speaking

* * *

**Chapter 4: Right in the Eye of the Storm**

**December 13**

**Castle Wyvern – 5:45 a.m.**

"Brook!" a voice called. The voice was so far away, but Brooklyn knew it was familiar. "Brooklyn, wake up!" This time the voice was closer. Slowly, things started coming back to him. There was something he'd promised to protect…no…someone! A friend…

"Come on, Red! Time ta wake up, bub," another gruffer voice called. Through, the voice wasn't familiar, the name it called him was. _'Red? Nobody, but only Ranita call me—' _"Ranita!" Brooklyn's body shot up, and he realized his mistake when a blinding pain drummed through his skull. "Ow!" he winced.

"About damn time. Ya woulda thought someone had knocked your brain right outta your head as long as you've been out," said the same gruff voice from earlier coming from Brooklyn's right. Before Brooklyn could hit back with a comeback, he opened his eyes. Right there in front of him was a man with the weirdest hairstyle Brooklyn had ever seen on a human in a Quarryman uniform!

With a roar, Brooklyn pounced from his bed, grabbed the human by the front of his uniform and hoisted him up three feet in the air, eyes glowing white with rage. "Where is she!" Brooklyn growled into the man's face. The man didn't even flinch at Brooklyn's threatening appearance as most humans would have. Instead, the man returned Brooklyn's growl with one of his own.

"You have 'bout ten seconds to let me down, bub," the man said. "You think you can scare me, Quarryman?" Brooklyn balled up his fist and lifted it up to punch the man when he felt a strong grip on his fist, stopping its descent. For a moment, Brooklyn expected Goliath's voice to boom a reprimand; instead a soft voice greeted him.

"Ah don't think you want ta to do that, sugar." Brooklyn looked over his right shoulder to see a young female human holding his wrist. The female's attention wasn't on him, but rather on the man in his grasp. As if sensing his eyes on her, she shifted her focus to him. Brooklyn saw something in her eyes. Those green eyes had a kindness to them, a kindness backed by steel. She was ready to finish a fight if he started one. There was also the fact that she certainly didn't have any problems restraining his arm that made Brooklyn hesitate.

"Brooklyn, calm down! They're on our side!" Lexington said after coming out of his shock. Sure, he'd seen Brooklyn mad before, but never this mad with someone other than Demona. Not to mention that a human, a woman especially, had stopped Brooklyn's fist mid-punch without any problems, who could blame him for temporary shock.

Brooklyn looked from Lexington to the man in his grip and slowly set the man down on his feet, back away from him. Once the woman seemed satisfied that he had indeed calmed down, she released him and went to stand next to the man. "Can somebody please explain to me what the heck is going on here?" Brooklyn asked. Now that the rage had subsided, his headache was returning.

"Come on, it's almost sunrise. I'll fill you in," Lexington offered, hoping to distract from the obvious tension between Brooklyn and the man. Looking warily at the two humans, but trusting Lexington's judgment, Brooklyn nodded and allowed his rookery brother to lead him out of the infirmary. As he was being led out, Brooklyn head a quiet 'snikt' sound coming from somewhere, though he wouldn't find out until later exactly where that sound came from.

Once the pair had exited the room, the woman turned to the man and gave him a disapproving look. "You shoulda let me teach that punk a lesson, darlin'," the gruff man, also known as Wolverine, said.

"He was injured, Logan! Ah'm sure Ranita wouldn't want you slicin' into her new friends. Besides, they're kinda nice." Seeing Logan raise his eyebrow at that, Rogue quickly added, "I mean after they got pass the 'you're not a Quarryman' part."

Though, that part was still hard for her to believe. Logan had decided to not wait for the police to do their jobs. He went down to a well known Quarryman recruiting center (though Rogue had no idea how he found _that_ out). After doing a preliminary background check, he was accepted, and given his Quarryman uniform and hammer. Though he wasn't given the information out right, there was plenty of talk of Castaway finally getting his mutant that night. The hardest part of the whole thing was the call to Elisa Maza and explaining to her that they needed to get to where she had hidden Ranita and her friend _immediately_.

"I still think that punk shoulda been taught a lesson. He lost Nita and the girl," he growled as he went to follow the adolescent gargoyles. Though the gargoyles were nowhere in sight, Rogue jogged to her husband's side, trusting in his sense of smell to led the way.

"And Ah'm sure he feels bad about that, Logan. Besides, from what we saw on the security tapes, he's lucky to be alive," she deduced. Logan nodded, his face grim. "Yeah, the mutant could've taken out everyone in this place if he wanted."

Logan thought about what the little guy, Lexington, had told them. Apparently, he had been watching Ranita and Brooklyn having a conversation and the next thing he knew, lights out. _'This guy is good. He took out the castle security or managed to sneak pass it and took out the only person awake who might raise the alarm before going after his target,'_ he thought and he said as much to Rogue.

"Ah wonder what a mutant is doing with the Quarrymen, especially since they're partnered with the Friends?"

"Good question, darlin'. I'll be sure to ask him when I meet the bastard." With that question between them, they continued to follow the trail of their hosts. The two mutants had finally caught up with the gargoyles just as they turned left and began ascending a stairwell. The two mutants soon found out that the stairs led to the topmost tower, where the clan and Detective Maza awaited them. Just at that moment Lexington finished his tale to Brooklyn.

"That's all good to know, Lex, but you haven't told me the plan to get them back," Brooklyn commented. Goliath looked to his second-in-command. "It is good to see you awake, Brooklyn. We thought you would spend the day in the infirmary."

Brooklyn held himself up taller as he approached his leader. "Thank you, Goliath, but why isn't there a plan to go after the girls?" Goliath looked in the direction of the soon to rise sun and then set his firm gaze on Brooklyn and replied, "There is no choice, but to rely on Elisa and the others to search whilst we sleep."

Brooklyn struggled with whether to argue with that strategy, but Goliath's firm expression told Brooklyn that it would do no good. Then Brooklyn, for the first time since he'd awaken, turned to Logan and said, "I'm sorry that I didn't protect your sister and about what happened earlier." Logan stared back, Brooklyn guessed that he saw something he liked and nodded his acceptance of the apology.

"Don't worry about it, kid. Ranita's always gettin' herself into these situations. And it's always up to her friends and family to dig her out of them," he said with a grin. A uplifted by Logan's acceptance, Brooklyn nodded and walked to the edge of the tower. He stopped and turned back the group. "Uh, Logan?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Ranita and I came up with an idea about what the Quarrymen wanted." He took a deep breath. "We thought that Castaway wanted Amiya's copy power to a mutant's power, but with Ranita gone..."

"You think it was Ranita's power that he wanted all along," Rogue concluded. He nodded.

"Thank you for that. It'll help," Rogue said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"No problem. Anything I can do to help Ranita and Amiya," he said and glided down to his position below. Lexington, Broadway, Angela and Hudson followed him, inquiring about what had happened earlier.

With only a couple of minutes before the sun rose, Goliath turned to their new human allies. "I hope you will accept my apologies as well. We promised the girls safety and we failed. I hope you will give us another chance to help them."

"Like I told the kid, don't worry about it. Besides, you'll get your chance."

Nodding his thanks, Goliath stepped onto the edge of the tower and struck a frightening pose just was the sun rose above the horizon, encasing him and the other gargoyles in stone.

There was a moment of awe for the two mutants. Rogue walked forward and lightly touched the statue of Goliath. _'Sure, Ah had heard the stories of gargoyles turning to stone with the rising of the sun, but to actually see it for myself was simply…'_ "Amazin'," she finished out loud. "They really are stone." _'Hank would give the fur off his back for a chance to see this,'_ she mused.

"All right. What's this plan you've come up with?" Elisa asked, trying to get back to the matter at hand.

"I'm think it's time to weed out a weasel," Logan said. Elisa felt slightly uneasy of the smirk that went across his face as he said that.

* * *

**Quarrymen Headquarters – 6:45 a.m. **

"How long until everything is set?" Castaway asked his subordinate.

The woman looked down at her clipboard of notes. "About six hours, sir."

"Good. After everything is complete, activate every elite member within the New York City area."

"Yes, sir." The woman left to carry out her boss's orders, leaving the two men alone.

"What's with the extra manpower, Castaway? You got your mutant and I'm sure my boys can handle anything the cops throw at us," Greydon Creed boasted.

Castaway just grinned at the sheer ineptitude of the man before him. _'How such a man became leader of one of the most powerful organizations in the country is anyone's guess.'_ "It isn't the police I'm concerned about, Mister Creed. The gargoyles are creatures of habit. They will attempt to rescue Ms. Kimble. When they do, I want a proper reception for them," he enlightened.

Creed sank deeper into his seat with a frown on his face. He didn't appreciate the way that Castaway was speaking to him now, nor did he like his role in this venture. Castaway still hadn't told him exactly what this mutie could do… "If you're so worried about the gargoyles crashing the party and if this mutie's _soo_ powerful, why not just use its power now and eliminate them now?"

"There is no guarantee that Ms. Kimble's power will affect the creatures while they are in their stone sleep and I will not be caught unprepared again!" Castaway yelled, slamming his fist on the desk. Taking a deep breath, Castaway smoothed back his hair and cleared his throat. "Now, if you will excuse me, Mister Creed. I have much to do before sunset." Seeing that he was being dismissed like a wayward servant, Creed sneered at the man as he stood. Castaway watched as Creed left, the man answering his cell phone as it rung.

Once the door was shut, Castaway turned to gaze out of his window, watching as the new day began. 900 years…900 years have the Canmores hunted the beasts and their Demon. Now he, Jon Canmore, was now one step closer to fulfilling the vow made by his ancestors long ago. _'After this day is done, I can finally rest.'_

* * *

**11:15 a.m.**

Creed was frustrated. For the past month, he had stretched his resources to the bare minimum. He had also promised his followers the end of the mutant menace and now with Castaway keeping him out of the loop, he could feel control slipping away. _'I won't let that bastard reap the benefits of all _my_ work.'_ That was why he was in the middle of Central Park, sitting on a park bench. The phone call was apparently from someone within the Quarryman organization. Someone who wasn't charmed by Castaway's promises, and who wanted Castaway put in his place. _'And I'll use whatever they give me to _make_ Castaway give credit where credit is due.'_

Creed was brought from his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching. _'Right on time,'_ he thought after glancing at his watch. He looked to his right to see a figure approaching him. This person turned out to be a young woman with long brown hair with a couple of strips of white hair framing her face. She was little thing in her ankle-length brown trench coat.

She stopped just a few feet in front of him. "Are you Victor Creed?" she asked, with a voice light to Creed's ears. "Depends. Do you have the information you promised?" he shot back.

Without a retort, the woman dug into her coat's interior pockets, retrieved some folded papers and handed them to him. He looked through the papers to see photos of a destroyed clock tower and articles about its destruction. "How does this solve my problems with Castaway?" he demanded.

"The articles mention a missin' sibling, who helped in the bombardment of the clock tower about the police station. He's been missin' since the last night of the Hunter's Moon. The sibling was named Jon Canmore…" she explained, letting that statement linger.

It took a moment, but the light finally went on in Creed's mind. _'So, Castaway is really Jon Canmore, huh? A wanted man with a new identity. I can work with this,'_ he thought. "Thanks. What do I owe you?" he asked, pocketing the article and pictures.

"Nothin'," she said. With the look on Creed's face, she explained further, "Ah just want ta know where Castaway's plannin' this little bash tonight. He's not tellin' the new recruits," she explained. Something about what she wanted sent warning bells through him.

"I can't say, but here's your payment." He held out a small packet for her to take. She brushed the packet away, "Ah don't want your money. Ah want to know where Castaway is located, so that Ah can witness the destruction of these monsters."

Creed shrugged. If someone was stupid enough to turn down money, then they didn't deserve it. "Suit yourself," he said, ignoring the other half of her demand. Turning, he began walking away when he heard a "Goodnight, Sugar." That was the last thing he heard when he felt a strong pull on his neck. For several seconds, it felt as though he couldn't breathe and then blissful darkness.

As soon as Creed's body started to fall to the ground, Rogue pulled back both her hand and her powers from him. She could feel the sliminess of Victor Creed's mind try to wrap around her mind like the snake he was, but she fought off the initial attack and quickly filed his personality away to the many pockets of her mind. Once he was firmly in place, she began to sort through the information in his mind. Though to her this search took several minutes to the outside world, it was more like the blink of an eye.

Upon opening her eyes, she saw Elisa putting handcuffs on an unconscious Creed and Logan walking towards her with a look of concern. That brought a smile to her face. No matter how many times she did this, he was always there to worry about her. Logan reached out, touching her shoulders, hoping to ease her. "You okay, darlin'?" he asked.

She offered him a smile, saying "Ah'm fine, Logan. We're gonna need help, sugar." Just then, Elisa stood and turned to them. "Matt going to be here soon to help me take him in," she jerked her thumb toward the Friends of Humanity leader. "Where do we go from here?" Elisa questioned.

"Well, according to Creed, Castaway is calling in the cavalry. There is something about elite members… Creed doesn't know anything about them, but Castaway made a big deal about them. And," she glanced at her watch, "there is no way we can get to where Castaway's holding her before these elites arrive."

"I think we should go in now. We could sneak in during the confusion of the elites coming. They'll be waitn' for us if we go in later," Logan argued.

"If we went in now without backup, we could be discovered, a lot of people could get hurt and we still may not make to the girls," Rogue responded. Rogue could hear the growls reverberating from Logan. Elisa nodded her agreement.

"She's right. It's better to have a plan, than to rush in guns blazing," Elisa said. When the stubborn man didn't reply, she further commented, "It could and very likely will get your sister killed, Mr. Griffe."

That slammed it home for Logan. Though he hated waiting or asking for help, he knew the two women were right. With a heavy sigh, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a cell phone, dialing a number he knew by heart. "Chuck, how fast can you get a team down here?"

* * *

'_Well, ain't this a bunch of crap,'_ Ranita thought as she, for seemed like the millionth time, looked at her surroundings. There was a camera on her cage constantly, and there was no way to pick the lock on the cage door. Not to mention that the cot she was sitting on was putting a serious dent in her backside. She was effectively trapped. 

A sound caught her attention. She walked to the front of her cage to try to discern what the sound was. As the sound got closer, she realized what it was. Footsteps. A lot of them. The door to the room opened to reveal Quarryman, enough of them to match the footfalls she'd heard. One Quarryman took up a position on each side of her cage, their hammers humming.

"What's going on?" she asked. When no one answered, she asked again.

When still no one replied, she said, "Y'all, I'm not gonna shut up until someone tells me what the heck is gong on!" _'Not that that's any guarantee that I'll really shut up,'_ she thought, smiling to herself.

"It would seem that Mr. Creed has gotten himself arrested, my dear Miss Kimble," Castaway said, strolling in to stand face to jailed face with Ranita.

"Well, that's good to hear. Crazies like him and you _need_ to be behind bars."

"I have taken the liberty of increasing security," he gestured to the guards by the cage, ignoring Ranita's words.

"Afraid your buddy Creed is gonna rat you out?" she asked, smiling. She hoped Creed did rat Castaway out to save his own skin. Absolutely perfect for a snake.

"Not only do I think Mr. Creed will turn on me, my dear, I'm expecting it." He walked over to the equipment. He hit a few buttons and the monitor flickered to life, showing Nicole St. John reporting.

"**_If you're just joining us, I'm here to report that Graydon Creed, leader and founder of the Friends of Humanity, has been arrested. The arresting officer was none other than Detective Matthew Bluestone, head of the Gargoyles Taskforce, who had this to say." _**

The picture shifted to a red-headed man with a serious expression looking into the camera.

"**_Yes, Mr. Creed has been arrested. He will be questioned about his involvement in the activities of the past weeks. Until then, I have no further comment."_ **

The picture shifted back to Nicole St. John. **_"Creed has suspected in propagating violence against both gargoyles and mutants in —"_** The screen went black indicating Castaway had turned it off.

Ranita turned her gaze back to her captor. "Creed is talking to the head of the gargoyles taskforce, someone who is paid to hunt down the gargoyles without causing public hysteria. I don't see how _that's_ gonna help me?" she asked, nonchalantly.

"That fact isn't going to help you, but the fact that his partner is Elisa Maza is the problem," he commented.

The way he said it, so calmly, sent warning signals down her spine. A light bulb went on in her head when she realized what Castaway was doing. "You planned this. You _want_ them to rescue me," she whispered. When no words came from Castaway refuting her claim, she was livid. "Why! What did they ever do to you!"

Castaway moved closer to the bars once more. It took a lot of Ranita's willpower not to just grab him through the bars. She had no doubt that while the other Quarrymen wouldn't kill her, she knew wouldn't be in any condition, if a moment to escape presented itself, to be _able_ to escape.

"I want them here, so that I can see the very life fade from those monster's eyes," he whispered, hatred dripping from every word. With that said, Castaway stormed out, two of his Quarrymen following. The rest remained, surrounding the four corners of her prison. Ranita went back to lie down on the cot. As she stared at the gray ceiling, Ranita couldn't help wondering, _'Why does he hate them so much?'_

* * *

**3:51 p.m.**

Elisa and Owen stood in the archway leading to the castle's landing pad, awaiting the arrival of the infamous X-Men. Elisa couldn't believe the wild turns the last forty-eight hours had wrought. Then again, since she'd met the gargoyles her life was full of them.

Looking at the city's cloudy sky, she thought about what was going to happen when the rest of the X-Men arrived. _'A rescue... from the heart of Quarrymen headquarters. Insane!'_ she thought. _'But if it were Goliath or any of the others...'_ She could only smile. She already knew that she would be doing the same thing.

She felt the winds shift violently as an aircraft approached, preparing to land. The aircraft was a sleek black jet, possibly military in design, though Elisa couldn't say for sure. Once it landed, Elisa and Owen made their way toward the aircraft. Halfway there, the hatch opened and three figures stepped down from the jet.

The first was a young man in his late twenties with reddish-brown hair. He wore a long, brown trench coat, which conveniently covered his black body armor.

The second was a woman whose brown skin and long, white hair made her stand out. Like the man before her, she wore black. Her outfit was a two-piece with long pants and a halter top. Her attire that would have been strange given it was the middle of December, if not for the calf length black jacket that covered it.

The third and final figure was a beast of a man. Literally. This man had blue fur covering his entire body. He wore a one piece black sleeveless body suit. Though this 'beast' reminded Elisa of the Pack's Wolf, he seemed to lack the feral nature to match his appearance.

They walked up the group, waiting for an introduction, which readily provided. "Gambit, Storm, Beast, this is Detective Elisa Maza. Her friends were the ones that found Ranita and her new friend and this," she indicated the man next to Elisa. "is Owen Burnett. His employer allowed Ranita to stay here under protective custody." At Logan's humph, she said louder, "_And_ acquired the plans needed for this mission."

Gambit stepped forward, took Elisa's hand. "Gambit appreciates all you have done for the petite. Perhaps after this is over, Gambit can show you his appreciation?" He leaned in to kiss her hand. "No, thanks," Elisa said, taking her hand away before Gambit's lips could touch it. "No need to play hard to get, _chèr_," he said, obviously put-off by the Elisa's harsh refusal.

Logan came up and nudged Gambit to the side. "We ain't got time for your flirting now, Cajun," Wolverine scolded.

"Wolverine is right, Gambit," Storm agreed, putting a restraining hand on his shoulder. She had seen the telling glow of Gambit's fist, signifying that Louisianan wanted to start something with the Canadian. Truth be told, she didn't want this to become another of their classic fights. Storm turned to the man to Elisa. "Mr. Burnett, can you please show us the plans you have acquired?"

"Of course. Please follow me," Owen replied in his normal stoic manner.

Elisa and the others did just that. Though she was just ahead of the group of X-Men, she heard Rogue say something along the lines of "big boyfriend" to who she could only guess was Gambit. She then heard a snort and his reply, "Size don't mean anything, _ma chère_. You'll see." Elisa raised her eyebrow at that. _'So, he's a stubborn one, huh? Well, if he gets too touchy, I'm going to have to burst his bubble. The hard way.'_

Having decided on her course of action regarding the determined Cajun, she shifted her focus away from their new allies to more pressing matters, such as planning this little siege. She knew that the clan wouldn't awaken for another two hours, and she knew they had to make some type of move before then. She hoped that whatever they came up with would be enough to delay Castaway long enough for the clan to get there, or even preempt his plans altogether.

Owen finally turned and directed those behind him to enter the room that Elisa had dubbed the 'War Room.' As she entered, Elisa was brought up short. The room was circular in shape with stone walls all around. Instead of windows, the walls were lined with monitors, which were tuned to various news channels. How Xanatos had done that was a question Elisa always wondered. In the dead center of the room was a circular table surrounded completely by chairs. The table was your ordinary table, no. _'Nothing Xanatos owned could have a single solitary function,_' Elisa mused. The table was also a holographic imager. It could construct three-dimensional models from data inputted into it. Data, such as the building plans Owen had 'obtained' from the city's computer database. Though the room was impressive and years ahead of anything she would see in any tactical squad room, it wasn't what had made her stop in her tracks.

There looking down at the table's keyboard was David Xanatos. The detective hadn't expected the billionaire to personally involve himself in their planning. It wasn't his usual style. "Xanatos."

He looked up and smiled that billionaire smile at his new guests. "Good afternoon, Detective, Mr. and Mrs. Griffe. Owen, please introduce me to our other guests," Xanatos said as he maneuvered around the table to greet them. "Certainly, sir. This is Ms. Storm, Mr. Gambit, and Mr. Beast." Xanatos shook each one's hand as they were introduced.

Once that was done, Xanatos returned to the table's keyboard while the others took up sits around the table, Owen choosing to stand beside his employer. "This is the latest surveillance from the location provided by Mrs. Griffe." He pressed a few keys and the table generated a video. The video showed a general skyscraper, not even that tall by regular standards. On the roof of the building were Quarrymen. There were at least five of them on the roof. The picture shifted down the building, Elisa seeing the occasional Quarryman at a window. When the video made it to ground level, Elisa was stunned by what she saw.

A virtual sea of Quarrymen.

Their numbers were vast enough to cover the entire city block. Even the smaller building, a small one-level structure, next to the skyscraper had Quarrymen on its rooftops. Never once had Elisa thought that Castaway's way of thinking could influence this many people. It filled her with a strange sadness and anger. Sadness that her city, a city that could be called a mixing pot of different races, could produce such hatred and violence against such peaceful beings as her gargoyle friends. Therein also laid her anger. Anger that Castaway would use innocent people to further his vendetta against her friends.

A low whistle from Gambit jolted Elisa out of her thoughts. "What the _petit_ do to get this kind of attention, Wolverine?" he asked, eyes widened as he looked at the immense number of people. He then looked from the image on the screen to Wolverine and Rogue. "You better not be talkin' about going through the front door. If so, you crazier than I first thought."

"I must concur with Gambit, I'm afraid. The odds don't look to be in our favor," Beast added.

"As much as I'd love to take a slice out of them," Wolverine popped one of his foot-long claws out to emphasize his point, startling Elisa. "This is a stealth mission. Go in, get Ranita and Amiya, cause as much damage as possible along the way, and get out." He withdrew the claw and Elisa watched as the skin healed over, no sign of any scar tissue. _'His hand healed like a gargoyle's would after a stone sleep,'_ she thought.

"Right," Rogue said, obviously use to his husband's antics. "According to the memories Ah got from Creed, Castaway is holding Ranita here," she pointed to the smaller building. "Creed doesn't know precisely where Amiya is being kept; only that she isn't in the same building as Ranita."

"How are we gonna find the other _fille_? We ain't gonna have time to search the other building," Gambit said, matter-of-factly.

"That may not be true," Xanatos said. He typed a few keys and the surveillance video vanished to be replaced by building schematics. "This is the original architecture of the main building. This," he hit another key and an x-ray of the building appeared beside the other. "is the building's current state." The two pictures were virtually identical until the view reached the top. About five floors from the roof, there was a 'hollowed out' area. Where once on the original schematic the hollowed out area represented three floors, it now was one large floor. "I believe Castaway is holding Miss Johnson here. It is as close to an open area without easy accessibility from above, namely of the gargoyle variety."

"Do you have any idea of how many guards on each floor between the roof and this hollow?" Storm asked. A few keys clicks and the current display vanished to be replaced by an infrared view.

"Oh, my stars!" Beast gasped, and Elisa couldn't help but share that sentiment. There, highlighted by red body heat, were at least fifteen bodies on a single floor! _'Seventy-five people in all between freedom for Amiya and possible death for her friends,'_ Elisa thought solemnly.

Elisa looked to Storm, who seemed to be the leader of this bunch, and she had a thoughtful look on her face. A moment later, Storm asked to see the other building. Xanatos brought up the display. There were few guards on the inside, two for each wall, all surrounding a single figure. Looking at the building, Elisa couldn't shake the feeling that something was up, and then suddenly it hit her.

"But why so many guards on the first building and less than a third of that on the second?" Elisa put to herself and others around her.

"That's the reason, detective." The video shifted back to the first building. There in the windows of the floors below and above the hollowed out area were sniper rifles. "They plan to shoot down anything or gargoyle that comes within reach of the roof," Xanatos stated.

"And with his forces on the ground, Mr. Castaway has secured a stronghold that would take a considerable amount of time to breach," Beast concluded.

"Well, we'll just have to make sure we're not seen. Right, Storm?" Logan said, smirking as he looked to his white-haired leader. She nodded, and replied, "Yes, Wolverine. I see no problem with that."

As the rest of planning got fully under way, Elisa got a tight knot in the pit of her stomach. She knew that this was the battle that could end the war Castaway had declared on all gargoyles. Only one would be the victor, and she hoped for all their sakes that it was her friends that won.

* * *

**5:43 p.m.**

Henry "Hank" McCoy, known affectionately by his friends as Beast, was really and truly fascinated. It was moments from sunset, moments before the gargoyles would awake. He was about to see beings thought to be urban legend revive. Ever since hearing about these beings, Beast has longed to meet them, talk with them and find out about their culture. His fellow teammates had already departed in the Blackbird. Detective Maza had left to join her partner on the scene of the Quarrymen rally, in case a riot and to let her partner know just what the plans were.

The plan they had agreed upon was two-pronged. Storm, Rogue, Wolverine, and Gambit would attack the second building, freeing Ranita; while he and their new gargoyles allies would approach the skyscraper using a helicopter Mr. Xanatos will provide.

That was one thing that puzzled Beast. Why would a billionaire involve himself and his family in this affair? When he asked the man that same question, he'd simply replied, "A debitum licet non persolvo, Mr. McCoy," and left to attend to other business. _' "A debt one cannot pay." How interesting,'_ Beast thought as he watched the sun's last moments over the horizon.

As the last rays of the sun vanished, Beast could hear stone cracking. He backed up to give them room and watch their awakening. More and more their stone skin continued to crack and split until finally with eyes glowing and cat-like roars, they burst from their stone hibernation. While they stretched and yawned, Beast thought it was time to make his presence known. "Pardon, me, but which one of you is Goliath?" Beast asked.

Beast heard wings shift in the wind before a rather imposing gargoyle landed before him. "I am Goliath. Who are you?" he asked, moving close to Beast. Beast held up his hands, palms out meaning he was non-threatening. "I am Beast, teammate of Wolverine and Rogue. They left to execute the first part of our plan to rescue the girls and stop Mr. Castaway."

"You mean you've found them?" a young, red gargoyle asked.

"Yes, but we must hurry." Beast looked into the gargoyle leader's face and added, "Ms. Maza also wanted me to tell you that she had to meet with her partner and would she see you there." The large gargoyle seemed to consider what he had been told. From the frown on his face, it was obvious that Goliath did not like this, not that Beast could blame him. Being rushed into a situation that he had no control over, endangering the lives of his people without all the facts or people he trusted? Goliath had a tough choice before him.

With a heavy sigh, Goliath said, "Very well."

Beast unleashed a breath of his own and continued, "Good. Mr. Xanatos said our transportation would be in the courtyard." Nodding, Goliath delegated duties to his charges, "Hudson, Bronx, you shall remain with the castle."

"Aye, lad. Just you bring the lasses back safe and sound. Right, boy?" Hudson asked his companion. Bronx's answer was a resounding bark.

"We will, Hudson." Goliath turned to his other charges. "The rest of you are with me. Broadway, Brooklyn, bring him with you," he commanded.

Before Beast could ask whom he meant, he felt talons grasp his biceps and the next thing he knew, they were airborne. While Beast has flown under the power of his various teammates before, it was still an exhilarating experience.

When they landed in the courtyard, the helicopter awaited them. As discussed, the helicopter was completely black with nothing that would identify Xanatos as a co-conspirator to what was about to happen. Also waiting with the transport was a woman in a pilot's uniform. Her red hair trapped beneath a red and black cap. The little green gargoyle approached the woman and said, "You're coming along, Fox?"

"David said you needed the best pilot and, of course, that's me," she stated, winking at the web-winged gargoyle. She opened the side door, saying "All aboard!" and made her way to the pilot-side door. Once their door slammed home, Fox took off.

After some quick introductions, Beast began explaining their part of the mission. "We are going to attack the building Castaway has occupied. Lady and gentlemen, we are, for lack of a better work, the distraction. Snipers occupy the floor one floor down from the rooftop. Unfortunately, these will be your entry points. Mrs. Xanatos will navigate the helicopter to the building, but level off a few feet above it to remain undetected. Then, you will glide down below the snipers and climb back up. At my signal, we will all attack."

"Um, what's to keep them from shooting at us before we make it to the building?" Angela asked.

"Yeah. Our hides aren't exactly bulletproof." Brooklyn quipped.

"Hopefully, lack of visibility and the element of surprise will reduce the likelihood of that happening," Beast answered.

"How?" Lexington asked. "I mean, I could see if there was a snowstorm or something, but it's a clear night. Are you doing to do it with some type of machine?" He thought about it for a minute and then looked up at Beast. "So, how are you going to do it?" Lexington further inquired, curious about the methods of these humans.

Beast could only smile. Lexington's inquisitive nature reminded him so much of himself, but he understood Lexington and the others' need to question them. After all, they would be the ones in the crosshairs. "No, my friend. No machine could do what we need done in the allotted time, but I can promise you that it is a problem we _can_ rectify," Beast reassured. After that was said, the other gargoyles remained silent, perhaps mentally preparing themselves or they just didn't have anything else to say.

Hank didn't know, but he did know he was nervous. Perhaps anxious was the better word. Yes, he'd been on many missions, but every one of them caused a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't know any of his teammates that hadn't felt some version of the same thing. _'Well, with the exception of Wolverine,'_ he thought, a smile forming on his face. _'That man is always ready for a fight.'_ This brought to mind all the times, he and Logan had gone out for a good time and ended up going home with a few more bruises than they started with. Well, _him_ with the bruises and Logan with that all around smirk. His thoughts were ruptured when Fox yelled to him, saying that she would begin ascending in five minutes.

Giving his thanks, he touched the X-shaped communicator on his left shoulder, opening a direct line to the other X-Men. "Storm, you may begin. We are five minutes from position."

"Affirmative, Beast. Storm, out."

Once done, Beast just sat back and signed. The plan was officially in motion and with any luck it would all go smoothly. For the brilliant scientist he was, Hank McCoy should have remembered Murphy's Law: _Whatever can go wrong will go wrong._

* * *

Goliath, leader of the Manhattan Clan, born a warrior in the hills of ancient Scotland, was anxious. Though he was always a leader, he didn't like the fact that he was putting the lives of two girls, of his clan, and maybe all gargoyles in the hands of virtual strangers. Strangers that were like family to Ranita. The human male, Wolverine, was a fierce man, by stance and appearance. He was notably a warrior in his own right. The human female, Rogue, was also a warrior. Her slight body and kind nature belied strength equal to any female of his race. Now, the man with them, Beast, was a different sort. On one hand, he reminded Goliath of the beings of New Olympus with his strange appearance. On the other hand, he seemed to be a quiet intellectual, someone who thinks very carefully before voicing their thoughts. 

As Goliath listened to Beast explain the plan for stopping Castaway, he became worried. He, like his charges, didn't like the mystery source of the decrease in visibility, but he had to trust them. With Castaway making his final move, a move that was bound to destroy his kind, he _had_ to trust them. Though to be honest, he was also curious as to how Beast and his teammates were going to accomplish what he promised. Other than by magic or machinery, Goliath didn't believe it was possible for these humans to carry out the task. When he heard Beast tell someone named Storm to begin, Goliath had no idea he was about to be proven wrong.

He and the others watched through the cockpit window as clouds appeared from nothing and began a circular descent upon the building, spreading out as it went. Being relatively new to mutants, Goliath did not know of their capabilities. In the past weeks, he'd heard many things said on both sides of the issue, but to see firsthand the power of one mutant... It was amazing and he was glad they were on their side.

With exclamations of shock, surprise, and wonder from his warriors, Goliath had only one thing to say. "Jalapeño..."

* * *

He was exhausted. If he thought the past two weeks were bad, then the last twenty-four hours have been a nightmare and he'd yet to wake up. Matt Bluestone has had a hectic day. With the arrest of Graydon Creed, the day just went from bad to worst. 

First, the media wouldn't stop hounding him about the arrest. Second, it seems as if Creed's men were determined to protest his arrest right in front of the stationhouse. Then, as if his headache wasn't bad enough, he was getting calls about a "Quarrymen mob" down by the old business district.

He quickly jumped into a squad car, and got down there. When he arrived, other officers were already on the scene, forming a blue barrier between the curious civilians, and the Quarrymen. Whoever called this in was wrong about this being a mob. A mob implies a lack of control in a crowd. This was a tightly run army, quiet and ready.

Matt went up to one of the officers and asked who was in charge. She directed him to a Commander James Ellison, head of the ESU team. Matt approached and asked, "What's the situation?"

"Who are you?" a strict looking, middle-aged man with a close, army buzz-cut asked.

"Detective Bluestone, Gargoyles Taskforce. Has Castaway made an appearance?"

"No, sir. According to the lady over there," he nodded towards the lady Quarrymen at the head of the crowd, "they have permits for this rally. Heard her mention something earlier about final retribution and it happening tonight. Do you have any idea what's she talking about, sir?"

"No clue, commander," Matt replied quickly, though it was untrue. He did have some idea about what was going on, nothing he could tell the commander about. Elisa had called to update him. What the woman had been shouting earlier rang true. Castaway _was_ making a move tonight, a big one if he went by what Elisa had told him about the girls was true.

Matt looked into the clear, night sky, wondering when he'd hear the shift of gargoyle wings. Then, he remembered there was more than just gargoyles out this night. The X-Men, vigilantes in their own right, had a part to play as well. Only the night would tell whether their involvement would help or hinder.

"Sir, what are your orders?" Matt came out of his reverie and looked at the ESU commander. From the expression on the man's fact, it was not the first time he'd asked that question.

"Uh, stand-by, but be ready. On my signal, we go in," Matt ordered, wishing he felt as confident as he sounded. The whole plan hinged on the X-Men and the clan getting to Castaway without attracting a lot of attention from the people and police out here.

"Matt!" a female voice called. He turned to his right to see his partner walking towards him, maneuvering around her fellow officers.

Surprised to see her here, Matt met her half way. He quickly pulled her aside so as not to be overheard. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be with the guys."

"They'll be here soon. Besides, there was nothing I could do on their end, so I decided to be here when it's finally time to bring Castaway in," she explained. Matt understood what she was feeling. After all the persecution on their friends, not to mention the damage Castaway's war had pushed upon the city and its people, it would be great to finally see an end to it.

"How long until they get here?" he asked. He then heard people behind him shouting, "Look! Look!" Matt whirled around to face the buildings and looked up. Clouds were rapidly beginning to spread across the night sky, too rapidly to be a natural occurrence. Then just like that, snow began to fall. Not the gentle frosting that was common for that time of year, but a storm of blizzard proportions. The snowstorm seem to surround the buildings, forming a vortex of wind and snow that almost hid the buildings completely from view.

As Matt stared in awe at the snowstorm, he could hear shouts of escape and retreat from the crowd. "I'd say about now," Elisa said, answering his forgotten question and startling him in the process. His eyes widened in shock, then turned back to the storm. _'Well, this is certainly gonna be interesting,'_ he mused, as he and his partner waited on bated breath for the battle to begin.

* * *

**That it for now! I hope y'all liked it. I have to say that I'm sooo sorry for the long wait, but school has to come first. Praise and criticisms are welcomed. Please email or review!**

**The title of this chapter came from a song from a cartoon movie in the 80's. Can anyone guess what cartoon movie?**


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